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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

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Received  .190 

Accession  No.        83124-    Claxs  No-  ^^  •*>*• 


r 


THE 

PROCESSION 


OF 


PLANETS 


BY 


FRANKLIN  H.  HEALD 


SECOND  EDITION 


1901 


COPYRIGHTED 

1901 
BY  FRANKLIN  H.  HEALD. 


CONTENTS. 


APOLOGY. 

CHAPTER  I.  THE  FORCES. 

II.  NEPTUN  BAND 
URANUS. 

III.  SATURN. 

IV.  JUPITER. 

V.  ASTEROIDS. 

VI.  MARS. 

VII.  EARTH. 

VIII.  VENUS. 

IX.  MURCURY. 

X.  INNER  ASTEROIDS 

XI.  THE  SUN. 

XII.  MOONS. 

XIII.  COMETS. 

XIV.  HEAT,  LIGHT  AND 

ELECTRICITY. 

XV.  THE  PROOF. 
XIV.        CONCLUSION. 

ANNOUNCEMENT. 


83124 


APOLOGY. 

As  an  excuse  for  assuming  to  point  out 
to  my  readers,  that  which  has  so  greatly  puz- 
zled much  wiser  men  who  are  especially  edu- 
cated in  the  science  of  astronomy,  and  furnished 
with  all  the  instruments  and  mechanism  which 
can  in  any  way  assist  them,  allow  me  to  plead, 
that  we  may  be  so  close  to  an  object  as  to  be 
able  to  see  only  the  details,  while  one  standing 
farther  away  and  not  perplexed  by  these  parts 
may  see  at  a  glance  the  whole  structure,  which 
has  been  ercted,  unknown  to  themselves 
by  these  men  of  particulars. 

New  theories  are  the  work  of  vigorous  and 
healthy  imaginations,  and  are  the  forerunners 
of  science  and  truth;  and  science  would  make 
but  sorry  progress  if  we  did  not  allow  our  im- 
aginations to  reach  out  into  the  unexplored 
darkness.  New  theories  which  are  wrong,  are 
very  soon  pulled  to  pieces  and  destroyed  by  sci- 
ence, but  if  they  are  correct,  facts  and  figures 
already  known  will  sustain  them. 

We  should  not  be  ashamed  to  abandon  a  pet 
hobby,  when  it  is  tried  in  the  crucible  of  truth 
and  found  wanting,  but  rather  be  ashamed  to 
allow  it  to  cling  to  us  like  dead  rnoss. 

If  the  new  ideas,  theories  or  seeming  facts 
hereinafter  presented  to  thinking  people  for  the 
first  time,  are  wrong,  they  will  be  easily  demol- 


istied  and  brushed  out  of  the  way  of  truth  and 
progress;  and  the  sooner  the  better.  What  we 
want  is  the  truth,  the  whole  truth  and  nothing 
but  the  truth,  and  law  and  order  of  nature;  and 
we  want  none  of  the  chance  and  changing  no- 
tions of  the  jealous  aud  angry  gods. 

I  am  quite  well  aware  of  the  considerable 
amount  of  orthodoxy  in  connection  with 
scientists  rnd  scientific  societies,  but  if  it  is  nec- 
essary to  dedicate  a  book,  I  most  respectfully, 
dedicate  this  little  volume  to  science  and  invite 
scientists  to  criticise  it  without  mercy,  with  the 
same  cruel  justice  exercised  by  a  camera.  If  it 
cannot  stand  before  criticism  it  is  not  true  and 
we  do  not  want  it. 

The  details  of  many  of  the  points  and  facts, 
which  to  me  seem  to  fit  so  perfectly  into  this 
structure,  as  to  make  it  a  beautiful  and  simple 
truth,  have  been  hurriedly  passed  over;  first  be- 
cause some  of  the  discoveries  I  have  made  are 
patentable,  and  second,  because  being  now  a 
firm  believer  in  the  wireless  telegraphy  of 
thought,  I  do  not  care  to  longer  delay  the 
copyrighting  of  present  discoveries,  lest  some 
more  active  fellow  mortal  should  anticipate  me 
and  carry  my  message  to  Garcia. 

In  the  matters  of  the  magnetic  poles  and  the 
three  different  qualities  of  heat,  i.  e.,  heat,  light 
and  electricity,  there  is  'much  more  to  be  ex- 
plained. There  is  also  a  large  field  for  young 
mathematitions  in  determining  the  exact  age 


between  planets,  after  the  relative  values  of  the 
force  of  gravity  and  centrifugal  force  are  estab- 
lished according  to  this  discovery. 

If  the  main  principles  of  this  discovery  of 
the  procession  of  planets  are  found  to  be  correct 
may  I  hope  that  others  will  hasten  to  fit  into 
their  proper  places  those  facts  and  truths 
which  have  been  hurriedly  passed  over  or 
missed-  I  will  also  be  pleased  to  explain  to  any 
one  such  points  as  I  have  failed  to  make  plain. 

FRANKLIN  H.  HEALD, 


ished  and  brushed  out  of  the  way  of  truth  and 
progress;  and  the  sooner  the  better.  What  we 
want  is  the  truth,  the  whole  truth  and  nothing 
but  the  truth,  and  law  and  order  of  nature;  and 
we  want  none  of  the  chance  and  changing  no- 
tions of  the  jealous  aud  angry  gods. 

I  am  quite  well  aware  of  the  considerable 
amount  of  orthodoxy  in  connection  with 
scientists  rnd  scientific  societies,  but  if  it  is  nec- 
essary to  dedicate  a  book,  I  most  respectfully, 
dedicate  this  little  volume  to  science  and  invite 
scientists  to  criticise  it  without  mercy,  with  the 
same  cruel  justice  exercised  by  a  camera.  If  it 
cannot  stand  before  criticism  it  is  not  true  and 
we  do  not  want  it. 

The  details  of  many  of  the  points  and  facts, 
which  to  me  seem  to  fit  so  perfectly  into  this 
structure,  as  to  make  it  a  beautiful  and  simple 
truth,  have  been  hurriedly  passed  over;  first  be- 
cause some  of  the  discoveries  I  have  made  are 
patentable,  and  second,  because  being  now  a 
firm  believer  in  the  wireless  telegraphy  of 
thought,  I  do  not  care  to  longer  delay  the 
copyrighting  of  present  discoveries,  lest  some 
more  active  fellow  mortal  should  anticipate  me 
and  carry  my  message  to  Garcia. 

In  the  matters  of  the  magnetic  poles  and  the 
three  different  qualities  of  heat,  i.  e.,  heat,  light 
and  electricity,  there  is  "much  more  to  be  ex- 
plained. There  is  also  a  large  field  for  young 
mathematitions  in  determining  the  exact  age 


between  planets,  after  the  relative  values  of  the 
force  of  gravity  and  centrifugal  force  are  estab- 
lished according  to  this  discovery. 

If  the  main  principles  of  this  discovery  of 
the  procession  of  planets  are  found  to  be  correct 
may  I  hope  that  others  will  hasten  to  fit  into 
their  proper  places  those  facts  and  truths 
which  have  been  hurriedly  passed  over  or 
missed-  I  will  also  be  pleased  to  explain  to  any 
one  such  points  as  I  have  failed  to  make  plain. 

FRANKLIN  H.  HEALD, 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE     FORCES. 


THE  FORCE  OF  HEAT  AND  THE 

FORCE  OF  GRAVITY  ALWAYS 

OPPOSE  EACH  OTHER. 

There  are  two  great  forces  in  nature  which 
keep  matter  in  ceaseless  motion.  These  two 
forces,  the  force  of  Heat  and  the  force  of  Gravity 
have  their  greatest  centers  in  the  sun,  relative 
to  the  planetary  system  and  are  always  in 
opposition  to  each  other. 

2  The  force  of  Heat  is  forever  disintegrating 
matter  and    forcing  or   pushing   it  away   from 
the  sun  as  light  and  electricity. 

3  The  force  of  Gravity  is  forever  crystaliz- 
ing,     collecting    separating   into    its    elements 
and  drawing  it  back  to  the  Sun. 

4  If  there  was  only  the  force  of  heat  in    na- 
ture, all  matter  would  be  disintegrated  by  heat 
into  light  and  electricity  and  sent  out  through 
space  never  to  return. 

5  If  there  was  only  the  force  of  gravity   in 
nature,  all  matter    would     finally   be   gathered 
into  one   vast  motionless    sphere,  never  to  be 
distributed. 

6  In    either  case  all  would  be  silence  and 
death,  as  there  would   be  no   more   motion  of 
matter.     Heat   is   the   chemical   action   which 
causes  the  life  and  motion  of  matter  and  grav- 


10 

ity    is   the    crystalizing,   condensing  ossifying 
and  death  of  matter. 

7  When  matter  is  returned   to  the   sun,   by 
the  force  of  gravity,  separated  into  its  elements 
the  friction  caused  by  its  chemical  dissolution  in 
that  great  mixing  caldron  of  electrical    energy, 
gives  up  exactly  the  same  amount  of  heat  which 
it  cost  the  sun  to  throw  it  out.    There  can  be  no 
loss  in  nature. 

8  Sir  Isaac  Newton  discovered  the  force   of 
gravity  by  wondering  why  the  apple  fell  to  the 
earth,  instead  of  falling  into  the  sky.   If  he  had 
taken  another  step  and  wondered  why   it  came 
to  be  in  the  treetop,  he  would  have  found   that 
it  was  placed  there  by  the  force  of  heat,  and  he 
would  then   have  discovered    the    other   great 
force  of  nature,  or  rather  that  heat  is  the  other 
great  opposite  force  in  nature. 

9  It  was  the  force  of  heat    acting  upon    the 
soil,  that  sent  the  rich  juices   up   through    the 
pores  of  the  tree,  to  the    apple  blossom  and   it 
was  the  force  of  gravity  which  collected,  crystal- 
ized  or    ossified  their   substances,    bringing  on 
ripeness,  old  age  and  death. 

10  In  the  case  of  the  apple,  heat  was  life  and 
gravity  was  death.  It  is  the  same  throughout 
all  nature  and  the  force  of  heat  can  never  hang 
an  apple  so  high  that  the  force  of  gravity  will 
not  find  it  and  bring  it  down,  neither  can  it 
send  matter  so  far  away  into  space  that  gravity 


11 


12 

the  oxygen  of  the  air  which  causes  the  heat.  We 
can  make  thousands  of  combinations  of  chemi- 
cals or  elements  of  matter,  which  disintegrate 
and  unite  with  each  other  so  readily  and  with 
such  suddeness,  as  to  cause  an  explosion. 

16  when  heat,  light  or  electricity  is  sent  out 
from  the  Sun  by  the  force  of  heat,  it  is  composed 
of  a  perfect  mixture  of  all   elements  of  matter 
found  in  nature.  When  it  is   thrown   out   into 
the   regions  of  space  and  the  heat  has  left  it  or 
become  latent,  it  is  crystalized  and  separated 
into    its  elements,    which   means  its    different 
kinds  of  material,  such  as  air  water  or  mineral, 
and  finaly  returned  to  the  sun,  to  be  disintegra- 
ted and  reunited  with  the  original  matter  of  the 
sun. 

17  It  is  the  chemical  reuniting  then,  of  these 
elements,  which  gravity  has  separated  and   re- 
turned to  the  Sun  in  the  shape  of  planets,  moons 
asteroids,    meteors   and    cosmic    dust,     which 
causes    the    chemical     friction     necessary    to 
furnish  it  with  a  never  ending  supply    of    heat 
and  material. 

18  Therefore  we  find  electricity  to   be  com- 
posed of  a  complete  admixture  of  all  matter   in 
nature,  in  the  exact  proportion  in  which  it  ex- 
ists, pushed  out  from  the  Sun  by   the   force   of 
heat  through  space,  carrying  the  life,  expansion 
and  buoyancy  of  youth. 

19  Each  atom  of  its  substance  or  fluid   also 


13 

carries  with  it  all  the -motions  of  the  Sun  which 
are  also  the  motions  of  all  the  heavenly  bodies 
with  the  exceptions  hereinafter  explained  (see 
CH,  xiii.),  and  is  always,  during  its  long  journey 
in  constant  and  instant  connection  with  the 
Sun;  a  constant  stream  of  its  living  energy  is 
always  leaving  the  Sun  and  is  continually  ar- 
riving at  every  heavenly  body  or  particle  of 
matter  in  the  universe. 

20  Without  gravity  to  separate   matter    into 
its  chemical  or  mineral  elements,   there   could 
be  no  chemical  heat  generated  by  its  return    to 
the  sun. 

21  So  it  is  through  all  nature,  we    must  look 
to  these  two  greater  forces  of  heat  and  gravity, 
which  are  forever  opposing  each    other,  for  an 
explanation  of  all  phenomena,   which  they  will 
surely  give  correctly  if  correctly  interpreted. 

22  What  they  do  however  is  only  temporary, 
because  what  one  is  doing  the  other  is  as  indus- 
triously undoing  and  thus  as    we    shall   see   in 
the  chapters  following,  there  is  a  continual  out- 
pouring of  energy  from  the  San  in  every  direc- 
tion through  space,  and   a  constant   returning 
of  its  separated  elements,  guided  by  the    minor 
forces,    in     the    great    circling    orbits    of   the 
planets,  moons,  asteroids  and    meteors,  follow- 
ing in  this  long  funeral  procession,  which   had 
no  beginning  and  can  have  no  end. 

23  This  discovery  of  the  procession  of  planets 


14 

is  simply  that  the  substance  of  the  Sun  is  being 
constantly  disintegrated  by  the  force  of  heat 
into  light  and  electricity  and  driven  out  through 
space  and  being  composed  of  the  expanded  par- 
ticles of  the  same  material  which  was  decom- 
posed to  produce  it;  is  crystalized  into  cosmic 
dust,  collected  by  the  force  of  gravity  as  the 
heat  leaves  it,  and  gradually  gathering  into 
masses,  forms  the  new  worlds  in  the  outside  re- 
gions of  the  solar  system,  which  as  new  plan- 
ets are  slowly  drawn  towards  the  sun  as  they 
make  their  mighty  orbits,  until  after  billions 
of  years,  they  again  return  to  recruit  that  great 
chemical  center  of  heat,  light  and  life,  after 
having  passed  through  many  stages  of  evolu- 
tion, from  a  loose  cloud  of  gas,  cosmic  dust,  me- 
teors and  stones;  gathering  their  contrary 
comet  moons;  passing  through  the  fires  of  fric- 
tion, as  generated  by  their  grinding  sand  and 
meteors;  melting  by  the  immense  heat  they 
generate;  burning  and  radiating  themselves 
away  to  planets  of  the  second  class;  some  burst- 
ing at  this  danger  point,  by  their  great  heat 
and  rotation  into  astroids,  cooling  and  forming 
a  crust;  bearing  life  by  the  laws  of  evolution; 
dying  and  turning  their  magnetic  poles  to  the 
sun;  falling  into  that  central,  rejuvenating  cal- 
dron of  heat  where  they  are  chemically  dissolved 
and  return  the  heat  they  received  at  first  only 
to  be  renewed  and  sent  out  again  on  the  same 
long  journey. 


15 

24  There  are  a  multitude  of  reasons  to  prove 
the  formation  of  new  worlds  begin  in  the  remote 
space    outside    of   the    planet    Neptune,    who 
swings  in  his  mighty  orbit  3,000,000,000    miles 
from  the  Sun.    Half  the  distance  from    our  Sun 
to  the  nearest  fixed  star,    is    12,500,000,000,000 
miles.    Supposing  our    Sun  to    control    by    its 
forces  the  matter  distributed  through  this  space 
and  there  would  still  be  a  strip  outside  of  Nep- 
tune of  12,497,000,000,000  miles  wide,  out  from 
Neptune's  orbit. 

25  In  order  to  better  understand  the  situation 
let  us  suppose  this  space  to    be    inclosed    in    a 
glass  case.  We  would  then  have  a  glass  ball  of 
25,000,000,000,000     miles    in    diameter,     with 
the  center  taken    out    6,000,000,000    miles    in 
diameter  to  represent  Neptune's    orbit.  In  this 
space,  outside  of  the  inner  ball   and    inside    of 
outer  ball,  we  might  reasonably  expect  our  Sun 
to  exercise  its    forces  of  gravity    and    electro- 
magnetic energy. 

26  Light  which  travels  at  the  rate    of  nearly 
12,000,000  miles  per  minute  and  which  is  com- 
posed of  every  known  substance    in    the    solar 
or    any    other    system,    as    the     spectroscope 
plainly     proves,    must    therefore     reach     this 
remote  regeon  before  it  is    all  crystalized* 

27  It  is  a  well  known    fact    that    the    space 
through  which  the  Earth  travels  is  filled  more 
or  less  with  small  particles  of  sand  and  stones 
and  some  many  tons  in  weight.  It  is   pertinent 


16 

then  to  ask  how  came  they  there?  Not  by  chance 
of  course,  because  there  is  no  chance  work  any- 
where in  nature.  No  doubt  the  San  is  receiving 
large  contributions  of  matter  in  this  wa}'. 

28  It  is  estimated  that  1,000,000    meteors    of 
various  sizes  fall  into  the    Earth's   atmosphere 
every    hour.  The  Sun  being  1,310,000  times  as 
large,    would  receive  that  man}^  times  as  much 
multiplied  by  its  additional  force  of  gravity. 

29  Outside  of  Neptune  in  the    vast    space  of 
which  we  can  have  so  little  knowledge  is  where 
we  must  look  for  the  new    planets,    where  the 
crystalized  light  or   electricity    collects   by  the 
force  of  gravity,  which  is  the    first    process    in 
the  forming  of  a  new  world.  Being  almost   de- 
serted by  heat  in  this   immensely    cold  regeon 
the  mass  attracts  more  and  more    as    it   grows 
larger  and  its  force  of  gravity  greater. 

30  This  mass  we  perceive  has  now  established 
a  force  of  gravity  of  its  own  which  is^being  acted 
upon  by  the  Sun's  force  of  gravity  and  must  be 
considered  in  connection  with  the  motions  it 
must    now    take  in  an     orbit.  It  has  pointed 
its  magnetic  poles  in  the  right  direction  which 
of  course  throws  its  equator  on  the  plane  of  the 
Sun's  equator  and  as  its  poles  are  fixed  it  must 
revolve    at  its  equator,  without  disturbing  its 
poles. 

31  If  therefore  we  take  for  granted,  as  we  are 
compelled  to  do    by  noting  the  fact,  that  every 


17 

plan-et  and  moon  in  the  solar  syste 
north  pole  towards  the  same  part  of  space,*  we 
see  at  a  glance  that  all  their  equators  must  be 
on  the  same  plane. 

32  All  matter  which  leaves  the  Sun  carries 
the  motions  of  the  Sun  with  it  no  matter  if  it  is 
the  smallest  possible  subdivision  of  matter.    It 
has  this  motion  when  a  part    of    the  Sun  and 
therefore   can    never   loose   it  in    space    where 
there  is  no  resistance  to  its  action.  If  the  planets 
were  thrown  out  from  the  Sun  in  a  body  as  has 
often  been  supposed,  scientists  would  not  hesi- 
tate to  admit  it  would  take  and  retain  the  mo- 
tions of  the  Sun.  They  would  no  doubt  admit 
it  if  the  body  weighed  but  a  thousand  tons,    or 
but  one  ton,  or  one  pound,  or  one  ounce  In  fact 
at  what  subdivision  of  matter  can  they  stop  in 
size?    Must  they  not  admit  that  the  particles  of 
electricity  carry  the  motions  of  the    Sun,  the 
same  as  they  would  if  the  size  of  a   moon.    As 
these  atoms  collect  into  new  worlds,  it  is  a  col- 
lection of  motion  as  well  as  of  matter  because 
the  motions  of  all  the  atoms  are  alike,  and  there- 
fore the  new  world  could  take    no    other    mo- 
tion than  an  orbit  and  rotation  from    right  to 
left  which  we  have  seen  is  the  inherent  motion 
of  all  matter. 

33  Suppose  we  set  a  top  spinning,  if  we  give 
it  a  little  swing  as  the  string  comes  off  we  give 
it  two  motions,  i.e.,  the  rotating  motion  of  spin- 


18 

ning  and  a  circling  or  orbit  motion  wherfcy  it 
makes  circles  on  the  floor  while  spinning.  Now 
if  we  could  throw  it  out  into  space  where  there  is 
no  resistance,  it  would  go  on  making  the  same 
motions  forever,  the  same  as  every  atom  of 
light  and  electricity  carry  the  motions  of  the 
Sun  and  point  their  poles  in  the  same  direction. 

34  All  matter  moves  naturally  from  right  to 
left  and  when  we  find  a  motion  from    left    to 
right,  it  is  an  accident.  This  is  why  every  Sun, 
Planet  and  Moon  rotate  and  travel  on  their  or- 
bits from  right  to  left;  it  is  the  reason  why  every 
storm  center  rotates  and  makes    an    orbit  from 
right  to  left  and  it  is  the  reason  why  a  soaring 
bird  circles  from  right  to  left.    All  vines  wind 
up  a  stick  or  string  from  right  to  left  and  will 
not  be  forced  to  grow  otherwise.  It  is  the  inhre- 
ent  motion  of  matter  and  applies  even  to    our 
own  persons,  causing  us  to  whirl  and  make  an 
orbit  from  right  to  left  around  the  ball    room. 
Blindfold  a  man  and  start  him  straight    away 
and  he  will  at  once  start  on  an  orbit  from  right 
to  left.  All  races  are  run    on    the    track    from 
right  to  left  and  machinery  set  contrary  to  the 
inherent  motions  of  nature  will  not  give  satisfac- 
tion. We  must  take  notice  that  nature  does  not 
do  her  work  by  notions  but  by  fixed  laws,  and 
to   understand,    we  must  use  less  mystery  and 
more  judgment. 

35  Having   now  started  on    its    great    orbit, 


19 

the  Suns'  force' of  gravity  gradually  draws  it  in 
while  centrifugal  force  holds  it  out  to  a  gradu- 
ally deceasing  orbit,  until  after  billions  of  cen- 
turies it  is  drawn  back  into  that  vast  funeral 
fire  the  burial  place  of  worlds,  or  to  be  exact  the 
rejuvenating  center  of  nature. 

36  If  the  Sun  is  forever  throwing  out  its  en- 
ergy as  even  Physacists  admit  it  is,  it  must  also 
have    a  supply  of  material  coming    in,    with 
whic'h  to  sustain    itsself.  Let  us  then,  carefully 
examine   this  procession  of  returning  planets, 
moons,    asteroids,  comets,    meteors  and    sand 
which  are  always  on  their  way  to  the  Sun,  com- 
mencing  at  the  farthest  planet  which  our  largest 
telescope  is  able  to  reveal  to  us,  and  let    each 
one  as  we  come  in,  give  its  own  evidence,    that 
it    is    older    than    its    outside     neighbor    and 
younger  than   its  neighbor  toward  the    Sun. 

37  Let  us  consider  them  carefully    from    far 
away  Neptune,  that  vast,  cold,  blue    cloud    of 
dust,  stones  and  meteors,  to  Mercury,  the  little 
heavy,  old  dead  world,  which  like  the  old  dead 
moon  of  our  Earth,  is  held  in  its  last  struggle, 
"flying  fast  and  flying   faster,"    while  securely 
bound     it    is     being     surely      and      swiftly 
dragged  to  the  sacrifice. 


CHAPTER     II. 
NEPTUNE  AND  URANUS. 


WHAT  FEW  THINGS  WE  KNOW  ABOUT 

THEM.     THEIR  COLOR,  SIZE 

AND  MOONS. 

Neptune,  almost  3,000,000,000  miles  from 
the  Sun,  is  so  far  away  that  even  with  the  large 
and  almost  perfect  telescopes  of  modern  times 
it  can  not  be  very  well  understood.  We  can 
however  preceive  that  it  is  a  vast  cloud  of  loose 
and  nebulous  matter  of  a  bluish  color. 

39  The  spectroscope  shows  the  difference  be- 
tween a  solid  body  and  a  mass  of  loose  or  inde- 
pendent fragments  collected  together  and  Nep- 
tune is  of  the  latter  class  and    its    density    is 
very  low. 

40  It  is  so  far  away  that  we  can  see  but  one 
of  its  moons  and  this    strange    body    revolves 
backward  in  its  orbit,  or  from  left  to  right,  and 
in  the  opposite  direction  to  all  other  heavenly 
bodies.  This  is  because  moons  are  at  first  caught 
by  the  new   worlds    as  comets,    coming    from 
outside  of  the  new  planets'  orbit  which    causes 
them  to  drop  behind  the  planet,  which  is  mov- 
ing and  thus  swing  the  wrong  way. 

41  This  planets  bluish  colored  disk  has    no 
markings,  not  even  bands,  so  we  can  tell  abso- 
lutely nothing  about  its  rotation  on  its  axes.  It 
moves  on  its  orbit  at  the  slowesi  speed  of  any 


21 

planet  in  the  system,  requiring  one  hundred 
and  sixty  five  years 'to  complete  its  orbit  at  the 
rate  of  about  240,000  per  day. 

42  Neptune  is  35,000  miles  in  diameter  and 
is  undoubtedly  growing  larger  by  catching  dust 
and  meteors  and  clusters  of  loose  stones  which 
must  always  be  forming  little  centers  of  gravity 
of  their  own,  of  all    conceivable  sizes,  in  these 
outside  regions. 

43  The  finding  of  this  stranger  by   computing 
its  force  of  gravity  upon  Uranus,  was  one  of  the 
most  wonderful  feats  of  mathematical  skill,  per- 
haps ever  accomplished  by  astronomers. 

44  Uranus  is  the  next  planet    in    order   be- 
tween Neptune  and  the  Sun    and    is    approxi- 
mately, about  half  way  between  the  two  but  is 
still  so  far  away  from  the  Earth  as  to  be  consid- 
erable of  a  mystery.    However    the    telescope 
shows  an  increase    of  warmth,  by   a   greenish 
colored  disk  and  two  faint   bands.    It    is    also, 
like  Neptune,  shown  by  the  spectroscope  to  be 
composed  of  loose  stones  bat  evidence  of  having 
worked      up      considerable      warmth      when 
compared  with  Neptune. 

45  The  bands  show  that  the  equator    lies  on 
the  same  plane  as  the  Sun  and  the  other  heav- 
enly bodies  and  proves  that  it  is  rotating  on  its 
axes  and  becoming  warm.    It  is  also  more  com- 
pact than  Neptune  and  has  gained  speed  along 
its  orbit,  traveling  at  the  rate  of  360,000  miles 
per  day. 


22 

46  Uranus  has  four  moons  which    are    large 
enough  to  see  with  telescope,  which  revolve  air 
most    at    right    angles    to    the   planets  equa- 
tor   or  from  pole  to  pole,  rising  in    the    south 
and  setting  in  the  north.  Since  Uranus  was    at 
the    position     of  Neptune,    their    orbits    have 
turned  half  way    over    from    end    to    end,  by 
the  inherent  motion  of  matter  which  their  con- 
trary action  opposes. 

47  Uranus  is  visible  to  the  naked  eye  but  is 
very  faint.  It  is  but  32,000  miles  in  diameter  and 
requires  eighty-four  years  to  complete  its  orbit 
around  the  Sun.  The  Sun  gives   nine  hundred 
times  as  much  light  to  the  Earth  as  it  gives   to 
Neptune  and  three  hundred  times  as  much  as 
to  Uranus,  and  it  would  make  very  little  differ- 
ence whether,  it  was  day  or  night  or  winter   or 
summer  on  either  of  these  planets. 

48  The  latter  planet  certainly  gives    proof  by 
its  bands  and  the  warmer  color,  that   the    fric- 
tion caused  by  the  rotation    of  its  loose    frag- 
ments of  matter,  has  caused  some  heat  and  it  is 
much  warmer  than  Neptune,  which   gives  not 
the  least  sign  of  warmth. 

49  We  cannot  be  sure  of  the  time  of  rotation 
upon  its  axes  further  than,  according  to  the  law 
of  the  procession  of  planets,    the    planets    and 
Sun  all    revolve  alike,  or  once  in  twenty-four 
hours.  Their  equators  travel  faster  or  slower,  ac- 
cording to  their  size.  Mars,  for  instance,  rotates 


23 

in  twenty  four  hours  but  being  smaller  than 
the  Earth,  its  equator  only  moves  640 
miles  per  hour.  When  the  first  class  planets  ap- 
parently rotate  faster  than  once  in  twenty-four 
hours,  it  is  only  the  outside  shell  or  man- 
tle that  is  doing  so,  for  which  statment  we  have 
the  best  of  proof  (see  ch,  Hi.).  A  large  planet 
like  Jupiter  would  move  at  the  rate  of  12,000 
miles  per  hour  at  the  equator,  if  it  revolved  in 
twenty-four  hours  and  the  great  red  spots  show 
that  the  inside  revolves  much  more  slowly  than 
the  outside.  It  will  finally  be  found  that  they  all 
revolve  their  center  parts  in  twenty-four  hours. 

50  The  Sun  is  also  covered  by  a  loose  envel- 
ope, but  contrary  to  Jupiter,  we  will  see  that  its 
center  revolves  much  faster  than    the    outside, 
for  good  and  sufficient  reasons,  one  of  which  is 
that  the  Sun  is  always  in  a  molten    state    and 
therefore  not  in  the  condition  of  Jupiter,    as  a 
Wheatstone  electro-dynamo. 

51  No  doubt  when  Uranus  has    reached    the 
present   position  of  Saturn,  millions    years  in 
the  future,  it  will  have  gained    the  same  heat 
and  ehow  a  yellowish  color,  with  bright  bands 
almost  to  the  poles. 

52  Sir  Wm.    Thompson  estimates  the    time 
since  the  Earth  first  formed  its  crust,  to  be  400, 
000,000   years  and    geologists  agree  that  it  is  a 
reasonable  time.  This  would,   when  applied  to 
this  discovery,  of  the  procession  of  planets,  take 


24 

the  Earth  back  to  the  position  now  occupied 
by  Mars  and  establishing  that  time  as  the  time 
between  two  worlds  or,  giving  us  a  new  planet 
every  400,000,000  years.  Following  this  esti- 
mate and  allowing  the  same  time  for  Neptune, 
we  would  have  eleven  such  spaces  or  4,400, 000, 
000  million  years  for  a  planet  to  exist  from  its 
collection  by  the  force  of  gravity,  until  it 
reaches  the  Sun  and  is  again  disintegrated  by 
the  force  of  heat. 

53  The  time  will  come  no  doubt,  when    with 
better  telescopes  and  other  instruments  not  yet 
invented,  we  will  be  able  to  detect  a  new  planet 
outside   of  Neptune  and   nearly  5,000,000,000 
miles  from  the  Sun,    thus    adding  400,000,000 
years    more    to     the    time.       Of   course     this 
time    is  too  long  to  be  comprehended   by    our 
present  brain  capacit}^  but  during  the  history  of 
many  thousand  years  we  know  of  scarcely  any 
change  in  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  we  must  go 
to  the  history  kept  by  the  rocks  before  the  time 
of  man,  to  find  a  difference  of  climate   on  the 
Earth. 

54  The  glaciers  may  have  existed    half  that 
long    ago   when    the    Earth    was  much    more 
cooled  than  Mars  is  now,  or  should  be  if  he  were 
of  regular  size    and  yet  so  much  farther  from 
the  Sun  than  at  present  that  the    winter    poles 
were  much  colder  than  now  and  winter    much 
longer  on  account  of  its  greater  orbit.    For  the 


25 

same  reason  the  summers  would  be  longer  and 
immensegroths  of  vegetation  would  be  produced 
during  these  long  summers  of  continual  sun- 
shine, aided  by  the  additional  heat  of  the  Earth 
itself,  which  at  that  time  had  just  formed  a 
crust. 


CHAPTER    III. 
SATURN. 

HEATING  BY  FRICTION.     INCREASING 
SPEED.    ITS  RINGS  AND  MOONS. 
AN  ELECTRIC  MACHINE. 

When  we  come  in  again,  half  way  to  the  Sun 
we  find  Saturn,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of 
the  planets,  on  account  of  its  curious  rings, 
which  however  should  not  be  taken  too  seriously 
as  they  are  only  comets  wrapped  around  it  in 
short  orbits. 

56  Saturn  is  898,000,000  miles  from  the  Sun 
and  makes  an  orbit  in  84  years  at  the    rate  of 
490,000  miles  per  day.  We  must  notice  as    we 
go  along,  that  each  planet  as  we  come  in  to  the 
Sun,  is  traveling  about  twice  as  fast  as  the  last 
one  outside  of  it.  We   must  notice    also    that 
they  have  dropped  towards  the  Sun  about   half 
the  diameter  of  their  orbits,  each  time    (see  ch, 
xv.). 

57  Here  in  the  case  of  Saturn,  we    have    the 


26 

details  of  world  making  near  enough  to  be 
better  understood,  in  that  degree  of  develop- 
ment, where  great  heat  is  generated  by  friction 
of  grinding  rocks.  We  must  be  careful  not  to 
confound  this  mechanical  method  of  heating 
with  the  chemical  heat  as  produced  in  the 
Sun  by  the  chemical  disintegration  of  matter. 

58  Being  76,000  miles  in  diameter  it  will  be 
seen  that  in  making  one  revolution  on  its   axes 
in  twenty-four  hours,  as  the  center  undoubtedly 
does,  the  surface  would  revolve  at  the  equator, 
at  the  rate  of  9,600  miles  per  hour.  The  surface 
however  travels  much    faster  and    is    credited 
with  making  a   revolution  in    ten    hours  and 
fifty-five  minutes. 

59  To  illustrate  why   the  first  class  planets, 
Neptune,  Uranus,  Saturn  and    Jupiter,    rotate 
faster  and  faster  as  we  come  in  towards  the  Sun 
and  become  hotter  at  the  same  time,  let  us  now 
consider   them    as     great    electrical  machines, 
exalting  their  own  motion  as  they  revolve  their 
outside   shell  or  secondary  helix,  and  turn  to  a 
description  of  the  Siemans  &  Wheatone  machine 
which  is  officially  described  as  follows; 

"Expressed  generally,  this  discovery  consists 
in  exalting  by  means  of  its  own  action,  to  a 
high  degree  of  intensit\r,  an  infinitesmal 
amount  of  magnetism. Conceive  an  electro-mag- 
netic core,  with  a  very  small  amount  of  residual 
magnetism,  which  is  never  wholly  absent  when 


27 

iron  has  once  been  magnetized.  Let  a  secondary 
coil,  with  cores  of  soft    iron   rotate    before    the 
poles  of  such  a  magnet.  Exceedingly  feeble  in- 
duced currents  will  circulate    in  the  secondary 
coil.  Let  these  induced  currents  instead  of  being 
carried  away,  be  sent  around  the  electro-magnet 
which  produced  them,  its  magnetism  will  there- 
by be  exalted.     It  is  then  in  condition  to  produce 
still    stronger  currents.    These  being  also    sent 
around  the  magnet  its  power  rises  still  higher; 
a  more  copious  production  of  induced  currents 
is  the  result.  Thus  by  a  series  of   inter-actions 
between  the  electro-magnet  and  secondary  he- 
lix, each  in  turn  exalting  the  other,     the    eleo- . 
tro-magnet  is  raised  from  a  state  of  almost  per- 
fect neutrality  to  one  of  intense  magnatation." 
60  This  shows  exactly  how  these  big  planets 
increase  their  rotary  speed   from    Neptune    to 
Jupiter,  as  we  have  seen  they  do.  Now  let    us 
turn  to  Prof.  James  E.  Keeler's    description  of 
Jupiters'  great  red  spot  that  we  may  basure  we 
have  made  no  mistake  and  that  the  interior   of 
these  monsters  do  not  revolve  as  fast  as    their 
exteriors, 

"In  1878  there  suddenly  appeared  a  pink 
spot  on  the  surface  of  Jupiter  of  unprecedented 
dimensions;  the  length  is  given  as  30,000  miles 
by  7,000  miles  broad.  In  another  year  it  was  a 
full  Indian  red.  So  completely  did  it  dwarf  all 
other  recorded  spots,  that  it  was  hencforth 


28 

known  as  "the  great  red  spot".  It  faded  away 
and  was  almost  invisible  in  1883;  since  then  it 
has  had  irregular  spells  of  brightening  but  nev- 
er recovered  its  pristine  beauty.  The  time  of 
rotation  of  the  red  spot,  is  not  the  same  as  the 
adjacent  forms.  In  1890  a  large  spot  was  mov- 
ing towards  the  red  spot  but  it  was  diverted 
from  its  course  but  remained  at  a  higher  lati- 
tude into  which  it  had  been  shunted;  it  passed 
the  red  spot  at  the  rate  of  twenty  miles  per 
hour.  The  great  red  spot,  is  like  a  bank  of  sand 
in  the  river,  past  which  the  clouds  go  scurrying." 

61  This  shows  conclusively  that  the  inside  of 
Jupiter  does  move  more  slowly  than  the  outside 
and  Prof.  Howe  considers  this  to  be  the  case  as 
proved  by  the  action  of  these  spots  (See  Study  of 
the  Sky,  p,  257). 

62  The  outside  of  Saturns'  rings  travel  at  the 
rate  of  nearly  30,000  miles  per  hour   and  Clerk 
Maxwell,  an  English   scientist,  has    shown  by 
the  spectroscope  that    these    are    composed  of 
myriads  of  small  pebbles,  too  small  to  be  seen 
individually  even  by  the  largest  telescopes.  Dr. 
Keller  afterwards  proved  this,  by  using  photo- 
graphs of  spectroscopic  observations.  He  showed 
that  the    outer    edge  of  the  rings    revolves  in 
longer    time     than    the  inner  edge  thus  giv- 
ing a  grinding  motion    to  these  pebbles,  which 
would  cause  heat  when  applied  to  a  planet  of 
like  material. 


29 

63  A  majority  of  astronomers  now  agree  that 
Saturn  is  in  a  more  or  less  heated  state  and  Prof. 
Howe,  in  his  Study  of  the  Sky,  p.  265,  says: 
"The  placid  cloud  mantle  in  which  the   ball  is 
enveloped,  hides  the  commotion  within,  but  the 
interior  does  not  seem  to  be  in  such  a  state  of 
activity  as  Jupiter  manifests." 

64  This  is  exactly    the  case,  and  Saturn    has 
yet  400,000,000  years  to  grind,  before  reaching 
Jupiters'  position,  size  and  condition  of  heat. 

65  Saturn   has  eight    moons,    which    travel 
around    it   from    right  to    left   in  nearly    the 
plane  of  its  equator.  Since  it  was  ,at  the  posi- 
tion of  Uranus  therefore  it  has  gradually  turned 
its     contrary    moons    over,  until    their  orbits 
are     almost     end    for    end  and    in      another 
400,000,000  years  at  the  position  of  Jupiter  we 
find  them  in  their  proper  place,  making    their 
orbits  on  the  plane  of  that  planet's  equator. 

66  Neptune,  Uranus  and  Saturns'  moons  do 
not  revolve  around  those  planets  on  the  plane 
of  their  equators,  which  is  evidance  enough    of 
their  riot  coming  from  the  planets,    because   if 
they  had,  they  would  have  been  thrown  cut  on 
the  plane  of  their  equators  and  make  their  orbits 
on  the  same  plane. 

67  The  rings  of  Saturn  are  very  thin  and  sup- 
posed to  be  not  more  than  100  miles  thick,  and 
cannot  be  seen  with  a  small   telescope    w 
turned  edgewise  to  us.  Gallileo,  who 


30 

them,  supposed  they  had  fallen  to  the  planet 
when  they  afterwards  turned  edgewise.  They 
were  not  turned  back  again  during  his  lifetime, 
and  he  died  in  that  belief. 

68  The  inside  ring  appears  to  be  nearing  the 
planet,  as  measurements     taken    by    Gallileo 
show  when  compared  with    the    present    time. 
Changes  would  naturaly  take  place  quickly  in 
so  flimsy  an  affair,  as  there  must  be  continual 
collision  in  so  much  loose  material  and  conse- 
quent checking  of  centrifugal  force,  giving    it  a 
shorter  orbit  very  rapidly. 

69  More  than  likely  these  rings  may  be  com- 
ets which  have  been  wound  around  the  planet 
in  small  orbits.  Jupiter  has  been  known  to  almost 
catch  two  comets  in  recent  years.  In  1879  Lex- 
tels'  comet  became  mixed    up    with  Jupiter's 
moons  and  in  1889    Brooks'    comet,    had     the 
same  experience.  The    next  favorable    time  to 
view  the  rings  will  be  in  1914  when    they    will 
be  inclined  twenty-eight  degrees  to  our  line   of 
vision. 

70  Saturn's  eight  moons  commencing  at  the 
outside  are  lapetus,  Hyperon,  Titan,  Reha,  Di- 
one,  Thehys,  Duceladus  and  Alias.    lapetus  is 
2,225,000    miles    from    the    planet,   being  the 
farthest  out. 

71  Belts  are  seen  around  the  ball  of  Saturn 
almost  to   its  poles.     It  is   only    one-eighth  as 
dense  as  the  Earth,  another  proof  of  its  heated 


31 

but  unmelted  condition.  When  it  does  become 
hot  enough  to  melt  by  friction,  its  density  will 
increase  and  its  size  will  decrease  to  the  dens- 
ity of  a  molten  mass  and  from  that  sizeit  must 
radiate  down  to  a  planet  of  the  second  class  but 
it  still  has  400,000,000  years  to  reach  the  orbit 
of  Jupiter,  and  he  is  still  heating  and  swelling. 


CHAPTER     IV. 
JUPITER. 

ITS  SWELLED  CONDITION.     HOW  IT 
WILL  BE  REDUCED.     A 
SMALL  SUN. 

72  Leaving  Saturn  to  its  grinding  and  heating 
and  coming  in  once  more -half  way  to  the  Sun 
we  arrive  at  the  greatest  of  all  the  planets,  and 
greater  in  size  than  in  weight.  It  is  swelled  al- 
most beyond  recognition  as  a  planet  and  sur- 
rounded by  all  the  gases  and  clouds  belonging 
to  a  stage  of  great  heat,  through  which  every 
planet  must  pass  before  it  can  become  melted 
into  a  body  and  commence  its  task  of  radiation 
and  later  the  production  of  life.  This  it  could 
never  do  if  not  melted  and  condensed.  Neither 
could  gravity  so  well  separate  its  elements,  and 
if  they  were-not  separated  they  could  not  create 
the  chemical  heat  in  the  Sun,  as  they  do  when 
properly  prepared  by  gravity.  Points  upon  its 
surface  travel  at  great  speed  and  it  is  supposed 


32 

to  make  a  revolution  in  a  little  more  than  nine 
hours.  This  however  we  cannot  be  quit  certain 
of  and  as  we  have  seen  is  only  the  motioni  of  its 
outside  shell  as  with  the  first  class  planets  and 
the  Sun. 

73  The  bright  colored  bands  around    Jupiter 
show  it  to  be  a  glowing  mass,  almost  ready  to 
melt  down.    When  it  finaly  does  so  and  settles 
down  to  a  much  smaller  size  the  process  of  ra- 
diation will  commence  at  once  and  Jupiter  will 
be  a  bright  burning  star  such   as   Asteroid  was 
before  the  accident  which  bursted  it. 

74  It  has  been  a  standing  mystery,  why  Nep- 
tune, Uranus,  Saturn    and    Jupiter    are    such 
monsters  in  size  when    compared    with    Mars, 
Earth,    Venus  and  Murcury,  but  it  seems  very 
simple  that  they  must  burn    and    radiate  to  a 
reasonable  size  before  they  become  cool  enough 
to  form  a  crust. 

75  Perhaps  if  Asteroid  had  not  burst  but  was 
now  in  its   proper  place  unimpaired,  a  bright 

burning  star  half  or  one  third  as  large  as  Jupi- 
ter, we  would  not  have  been  puzzled  so  long  by 
so  simple  a  matter.  What  could  they  do  but  loose 
their  heat  and  size  by  radiation.  For  400,000- 
000,  years  or  more  they  are  heat  centers  and 
must  during  all  that  inconceivable  time  be 
throwing  out  their  heat  and  thus  losing  their 
material. 

76  Jupiter  will  be  almost  a  small  Sun  when 


33 

he  finaly  bursts  in  to  flames  but  he  will  not  reach 
the  present  orbit  of  Mars  for  800,000,000  years 
where  he  should  form  his  crust  and  commence 
to  evolve  life. 

77  He  is  the  great  giant  amongst  planets  now 
but  each  one  as  it  reaches  his  present  orbit  will 
be  the  great  giant.  Saturn  is  following  him  and 
when  he  has  become  melted  and    is    radiating 
his  bulk  away  Saturn   will  be  the  great  giant, 
the  rings  and  some  of  the  moons  will  be  added 
to  the  planet's  melting  mass  and  Uranus  will  be 
in  Saturns  place,  Neptune  will  be  in  the    place 
of  Uranus  and  a  monstrous  cold,  blue  cloud  of 
sand, stones  and  gas  will  come  in  sight  as  anew 
world  just  receiving  its  motions  and    with    its 
comet  moons  revolving  backward  in  their  orbit. 

78  Jupiter  has  five  moons,  four  of  which   can 
be  seen  with  a  good  opera  glass.  They    are    in 
.themselves  a  very  interesting  study.  Their  time 
of  transit,  eclipses  and  occulations  are  given  in 
the  nautical  almanac. 

79  The  velocity  of  light  was  discovered  by  ob- 
serving these  eclipses.  Roemer  noticed  that  as 
the  planet  and  the    Earth  were    receding    the 
time  of  the  small  moon  I.  did  not  come  as  soon 
as  it  should  and  in  wondering  why  it  was  so  he 
concluded  that  it  took  light  that  much  time  to 
travel  the  extra  distance,  so    he    watched    the 
eclipses  untill  the  two  planets    began    to    ap- 
proach each  other  again,  when  sure  enough  the 


34 

time  began  to  shorten  and  the  eclipse  come  to 
soon  and  from  this  he  soon  calculated  the  speed 
of  light. 

80  Astronomers  give   Jupiter   credit    with    a 
red  atmosphere.  No  doubt  it  has  a  fiery  gas  un- 
der the  carbonous  clouds  which  partially  hides 
its  great   smothered  heat  and    they  will  think 
the  inferneo  has  broken  out  again,  if  there    are 
are  any  of  them  alive  when  his  smothered  flame 
can  no  longer  be    hidden     under    blankets    of 
carbon  and  he  bursts  out  into  a    blazing    mass 
of  fire. 

81  The  great  red  spot  may  have  been  a  moon 
which  had  been  revolving  around  Jupiter  in  or 
under  its  clouds  of  carbon  which  did  not  make 
its  appearance   until  it  fell  into  the  more    solid 
interior  of  the  planet  and  received   enough  heat 
to  make  it  red  (n.  60). 

82  Summing  up  all  the  evidence  we  have  in 
sight,   we  must  find    Jupiter    hotter    than    any 
other  planet  in  the  system    with    the    possible 
exception  of  Mars  and  if  so  there    is    a  reason 
for  it.  Saturn  following    him    is    heating   and 
Mars  before  him  is    cooling,  so    that  at    some 
point  between  his  orbit  and  the  orbit  of    Mars 
is  the  point. of  greatest  heat  where  the    worlds 
melt  as  they  come  in.  Up    to    this    time    they 
have  been  growing  warmer  as  we  have  seen  and 
as  the  telescope  and  spectroscope  plainly  show. 
While  they  were  heating  they  were  also    swell- 


35 

ing  in  volume  as  well  as  adding  considerable 
stray  matter  to  their  bulk  as  they  generated 
heat,  electric  and  magnetic  currents  and  pow- 
er. They  have  revolved  faster  and  faster  and  at 
the  same  time  they  have  traveled  faster  on  their 
orbits  as  they  have  dropped  towards  the  Sun 
until  now  at  Jupiter,  we  find  him  traveling  on 
his  orbit  at  the  rate  of  690,000  miles  per  day. 

83  Saturn  makes  a  revolution  on   its  axes   in 
ten  hours  and  fourteen  minutes,   while   Jupiter 
although  thousands  of  miles  larger  in  circum- 
ference makes  a  revolution  in    nine  hours  and 
fifty  five  minutes.  We  can   not  know  the  time 
of  Uranus'  revolution  but  we  know  it   is  much 
faster  than    Neptune's  which  is   proved  by  its 
faint  bands. 

84  So  we  see  that  they  become  more  and  more 
great  electric  dinamos  as  they    come  in    untill 
they  reach  the  present  orbit  of  Jupiter    which 
must  be  near  the  melting  point  and  we  cannot 
deny  the  patent  fact    which  is  in  plain    sight 
that  as  they  grind  away  these  millions  of  years 
they  generate  by  friction,  the  heat  which  finaly 
melts   them    down,  when  their  increasing  elec- 
trical motions  being  no  longer  augmented  cease 
and  the  mass   gradually  settles    back    to    the 
rotary  motion  of  the  inside  matter  of  the  planet 
which  as  we  have  seen  is  the  inherent    motion 
of  all  matter  as  it  comes  from  the  Sun   (n.  59). 

85  Some  astronomers  explain    the    so    called 


36 

red  atmosphere  of  Jupiter  as  due  to  the  sun- 
light effcts  upon  its  clouds,  forgetting  the  plan- 
et is  five  times  as  far  from  the  Sun  as  we  are 
where  the  sunlight  is  a  very  small  matter  indeed. 


CHAPTER    V. 
THE     ASTEROIDS. 

THE  EXPLOSION  OF  A  WORLD.    THEY 

ARE  SPHERES  AND  THEIR  NAME 

IS  LEGION. 

86  Coming  in  this  time  half  way  to  the  Sun 
from  Jupiter  which  should  be  the  orbit    of    a 
planet,  we  find  instead  only  its    scattered    re- 
mains. A  great  celestial  catastrophy,  fragments 
of  a  world  which  burst  in  the    crucible.     Here 
seems  the  most  absolute  proof    of    its    former 
great  heat  and  fast  rotary  motion.  It  would   re- 
quire thorough  melting  and  condensing  before 
it  could  explode  and  that  it  was  so     we    have 
only  to  notice  that  each  of   the    600    Asteroids 
which  our  largest  telescopes  are  able  to  reveal  to 
us,  are  spheres. 

87  If  it  had  not  been  in  a  molten  state  at  the 
time  of  the  accident  these  Asteroids    would    be 
in  all  kinds  of  shapes  and  chunks  but  they  are 
round  and  smoothe.   They   follow   the    original 
orbit  of  the  planet  as  near  as  could  be  expected 


37 

but  of  course  are  greatly  scattered  in  width  and 
strung  along  the  orbit. 

88  It  would  be  of  the  greatest  interest    if  we 
could    see    this    firoy   planet    in    its    original 
orbit       unimpaired,     as      future     inhabitants 
of  the  Earth  will  sometime  see   Jupiter    provi- 
ded of  course  he  too  does  not  burst  in    passing 
this  dangerous  point  of  heat   and    speed.     No 
doubt   the    planet    Asteroid    would    be     much 
smaller  and  much  more  condensed  than   Jupi- 
tre  because  it  would  be  completely    melte   and- 
would  have  been   radiating  its  heat  and  weight 
away  for  uncounted   ages.    Yet    it  would    no 
doubt  be  many  times  larger  than  the  Earth    as 
it  would  still  have  400,( >00,000  years  to  radiate 
itself  away,  before  reaching  the  present  orbit  of 
Mars. 

89  Perhaps  there  may  be  trillions    of   these 
Asteroids  which  can  never  be  seen    from    the 
Earth  as  they  are  100,000,000  miles    from  the 
Earth    on    an  averag  and  five     times  as  far,  a 
part  of  the  time. 

90  The  Asteroids  like  Neptune  were  discov- 
ered by  means  of  mathematical  calculation  and 
theory  or  reason.  Titus  in  1772  found  that  the 
following  ratio  should  represent    the     approxi- 
mate possitions  of  the  planets    from  the  Sun. 
Representing  the  Earths,  distance  by    ten  he 
found  the  following  ratio  between    theory  and 
fact. 


38 

PLANET  RATIO  THEORY  FACT 

Murcury         0x4  4  5.9 

Venus  "3x4  7  7.2 

Earth  6x4  10  10.0 

Mars  12  x  4  16  15.2 

(Asteroid)     24x4  (24)  (24.5) 

Jupiter        48  x  4  52  52.0 

Saturn          96x4  100  95.4 

91  Neither  Uranus  or  Neptune  had  been  dis- 
covered at  that  time    but    when     Uranus    was 
discovered  and  found  to  reasonably  conform  to 
the  same  ratio  this  gap  between    Jupiter    and 
Mars  made  such  an  impression    on    Bode,  the 
great    Berlin    astronomer,  that  he    undertook 
the  task  of  finding  the  missing  planet.  It    was 
however  twenty  years  before  Piazzi,    a    Sillian 
astronomer  discovered  the  first  Asteroid,  Ceres. 
Since  that  time  they  have  been    found    almost 
nightly  by  cameras  which  are  set  for  them. 

92  Vesta  one  of  the  Asteroids  is  visible  to  the 
naked  eye  and  although  it  is  not  the  largest    it 
is  the    brightest.  The    diameters    of    the    four 
largest  of  these  tiny  worlds  are  as  follows: 

Ceres  485     miles 

Pallas  304       '  ' 

Vesta  243 

Juno  118 

93 Eros  is  the  nerrest  known  Asteroid  to  the 
Earth  and  will  come  as  close  as  14,000,000 
miles  in  192 1.  Its  orbit  is  an  elipse  and  at  times 


39 

it  is  far  outside  of  Mars.  Being  so  small,  only 
twenty  miles  in  diameter  it  is  easily  influenced 
out  of  its  original  orbit  by  the  planets  and  is  of 
course  liable  to  be  picked  up  some  time  by 
Mars  as  it  must  cross  the  orbit  of  Mars  twice 
every  trip  around  the  Sun.  It  is  expected  to 
furnish  an  exact  basis  of  measurment  by  which 
to  correct  the  distances  of  all  the  other  heavenly 
bodies  because  it  is  so  small  that  its  exact 
position  can  be  taken  at  any  time  within  a  few 
feet. 

94  The  theory  that  these  little    bodies  came 
from  a  ring  of  matter  which  was  left    over  by 
the  contracting  theory  will    not   stand  the  ,test 
because  they  have  been  melted  and  such  small 
bodies  could  not  generate  enough  independent 
heat  to  melt  and  we  can  easily  see    that    they 
are  spheres  of  great    density.  They    must    be 
cooled  to  the  center  according  to  their  denisty 
and  would  cool  very  fast  after  being  distributed 
into  such  small  bodies. 

95  If  the  original  planet  had  not  bursted,  it 
would  no  doubt  be  a  bright  burning  star  in  the 
most  interesting  stage  of  radiating   itsself  to    a 
planet  of  the  second  class.  There  is  no  story  or 
legend  known  in  history  of  this  firy  orb    so  its 
accident  must  have    occured    at    least    10,000 
years  ago. 

96  Perhaps  if  archaeologists  continue  to  find 
old  cities  beneath  the  almost  mythical  city  of 


40 

Niper,  they  may  yet  find  some  reference  to  it 
as  it  must  have  been  a  very  prominant  feature 
of  the  heavens  having  almost  the  appearance  of 
a  small  Sun  for  at  least  two  years  out  of  seven 
and  would  have  been  the  third  celestial  attrac- 
tion while  it  lasted. 

97  We  must  be  careful  not   to  overlook    any 
point  which  may  possibly    throw    light    upon 
this  interesting  procession  of  planets,    therfore 
we  might  consider  for  a  moment  what  became 
of  the  three  moons  which  this  unfortunate  body 
should  have  had  in  company  at  the  time. 

98  If  one  or  more  of  these    satelites    were  a 
long  way  out  (the  farthest  should  have  been  in 
the  neighborhood  of  600,000  miles)  and  of  any 
considerable  size,  like  our  own  moon  they  or  it 
shouid  be  in  sight  between  the  orbits  of  Jupiter 
and  Mars  and  still  preserving  an  orbit  motion  if 
not  wrecked  in  the  general  smashup. 

99  The  objection  that  if  one  planet  bursts  at 
the  point  of  Asteroid,  they  should    all    do    the 
same  is  not  a    necessary    conclusion    for    the 
reason  that  its  bursting  was  due  in  part  to    its 
over  rate  of  speed  in  rotating,  induced  by  the 
mechanical    process    of    generating    too  much 
electro-magnetic  energy.   While  nature  herself 
makes  no  mistake  we  know  that  a    machine  is 
always  liable  to  accident  and  these  planets'  in 
fact,  become  great  electro-magnetic  machines  at 
this  point  as  we;have  seen.  We  know  that  Mars, 


4!  -iv 

the   Earth,  Venus  and    Murcury   have 
this  point  safely  (n.  59). 
100  In  reference  to  asteroids   near  the  San,  it 
is  reasonable    to    believe   that   nature    would 
protect  her  interests  as  she  does  by  all  the  laws 
of  evolution  and  burst  these  now  usless  worlds 
before  they  enter  the  Sun.  In  case  of  an  entire 
planet  entering  the  Sun  in  one  body,  the  great 
chemical  activity  and  consequent    overplus  of 
electrical  energy,  would  amount   to   little    less 
than  an  explotion  on  the  Earth. 

101  These  planets  might  explode  by  the  water 
and  air  which  sinks  into  their  crusts    as    they 
become  cooler.  When  near  the  sun  there  might 
be  such  great  heat  as  to   bring   these  elements 
in  sight  again  as  explosions  of    steam,    in    the 
great  interior  caverns.  Prof.    Alex.  Winchell  in 
his  Neublar  theory  expresses   the    belief    that 
water  cannot  approach^  the  Sun,  beyond  a   cer- 
tain fixed  limit. 

CHAPTER    VI. 
MARS. 

bTHE     RED     PLANET     OF     WAR.      HIS 
AGE,       COLOR      AND      FUTURE 
CONDITION  OF    SERVITUDE. 

102  Once  more  half  way  to  the  Sun  from  the 
Asteroids,  we  find  the  red  planet  of  war,  Mars. 
Having  safely  passed  the  bursting  point  in  the 


42 

procession  of  planets  it  is  now  in  the  act  of 
cooling  and  forming  its  crust.  It  is  receiving  its 
atmosphere  and  water  which  its  own  heat  may 
have  been  holding  at  a  distance  for  millions  of 
years  since  it  began  to  melt  in  the  vacinity  of 
Jupiter  and  is  now  almost  ready  to  produce 
and  support  life,  which  the  laws  of  evolution 
will  as  surely  produce,  as  it  has  already  recieved 
its  motions  in  the  great  mass  of  loose  stones 
which  started  on  its  long  journey  so  many 
million  years  ago,  out  in  the  borders  of  our 
planetary  eternity  (n.  29). 

103  We  can  already  see  snow  at  the  poles  of 
Mars  at  such  times  as  they  are  turned  from  the 
Sun.  Now  if  there  was  no  more  '  heat    in    the 
planet  Mars,  than  in  the  Earth  it  should  be  at 
least  half  covered  with  snow    continually    be- 
acuse  it  is  nearly  twice  as  far  from  the  Sun    as 
we  are  and  its  winters  are  twice  as  long  as  ours 
but  the  fact  that  there  are  but    small    caps  of 
snow  at  the  poles  where  the  Sun  does  not  shine 
for  a  year  at  a  time,  must  convince  us    that    it 
is  very  hot  within  itself. 

104  Its  color    also    seems    to    indicate    great 
heat.  Of  course  as  soon  as  a    planet    melts  the 
friction  of  grinding  material    ceases    and    the 
generation  of  heat  and  energy  stop  and  it  must 
at  once  commence  to  cool  by  the  slow    process 
of  radiation. 

105  After  millions  of  years  of  radiation  and 


43 

reducing  in  size  it  would  become  small  enough 
and  cool  enough  to  commence  forming  a  crust 
or  temporary  crusts,  like  thin  ice  over  a  pond 
which  would  be  checked  or  cracked  to  pieces 
time  after  time  perhaps.  Or  the  contrcting  of 
the  cooling  crust  might  cause  great  crevices, 
which  might  account  for  the  curious  canals 
with  which  astronomers  irrigate  the  inhabitents 
of  Mars.  However  it  seems  more  likely  that 
these  canals  are  made  by  the  great  rush  of 
water  from  the  polar  regions  towards  the  equi- 
torial  regions  after  one  of  their  long  winters  of 
cold  storms  for  twelve  months.  It  is  more 
reasonable  when  we  remember  that  Mars  is 
flat  and  smoothe.  not  having  cooled  enough  to 
have  any  mountains.  It  is  receving  its  water 
at  its  poles  as  snow,  and  when  this  melts  it  of 
course  flows  towards  equator,  diging  deep  chan- 
nels untill  it  is  evaporated  again  by  the  hotre- 
gons,  into  steam,  to  again  fall  at  the  poles 
by  the  forca  of  gravity.  Thus  we  can  percieve 
how  these  canals  may  be  made  by  this  endless 
round  of  water  flowing  but  one  way,  in  a  land 
which  is  yet  almost  a  level  plain  and  probably 
little  or  no  crust  forned  at  the  equitorial 
regions.  No  doubt  the  planet  is  much 
cooler  than  the  Earth  was  at  the  same  position 
in  space,  because,  being  so  small  it  must  have 
cooled  much  faster  than  the  Earth. 
106  Mars  appears  to  be  a  pigmy  amongst  th 


44 

planets  and  his  moons  are  pigmy  moons.  Of 
course  there  is  some  good  reason  for  this  which 
mathemations  shouln  be  easily  able  to  show. 
There  may  have  been  less  material  handy  out 
in  the  regeons  of  Neptune,  when  Mars 
was  being  collected  by  the  force  of  gravity,  or 
the  planet  comprising  the  Asteroids  may  have 
stolen  the  comets  belonging  to  him.  One  thing 
s  quite  evident,  he  never  was  as  large  as  ordi- 
nary planets  because  his  moons  are  pigmy 
moons,  proportioned  in  size  to  himself.  Being 
so  small  at  the  start  he  could  only  attract  the 
small  fry  comets.  There  is  an  old  axiom 
which  is  a  law  of  gravity  that  says,  "  to  him 
that  hath  shall  be  given  but  to  him  that  hath 
not  shall  be  taken,  even  that  which  he  hath." 
If  little  Mars  away  out  in  the  regons  of  world 
gathering  should  be  smaller  than  Asteroid  out- 
side of  him  and  the  Earth  this  side  of  him,  we 
can  redily  see  that  they  would  attract  farther 
aud  stronger  and  so  rob  him  on  both  sides  of 
the  material  which  belonged  in  his  legitimate 
zone. 

107  Having  cooled  so  much  faster  on  account 
of  its  small  size,  Mars  may  be  in  a  condition  to 
support  life  at  an  earlier  period  or  position  in 
space  than  the  Earth  was,  provided  the  greater 
distance  from  the  Sun  and  smaller    amount   of 
light  does  not  interfere. 

108  There  are  innumerable  theories  regardin 


45 

Mars  and  the  probability  of  its  being  inhabited 
but  most  of  these  guesses  are  based  upon  the 
belief  that  Mars  is  older  than  the  Earth 
which  seems  to  be  a  popular  fallacy. 

109  The  density  of  a  planet  as  in  all  life  must 
tell  its  age.  It  is  the  work  of  gravity  which  pro- 
duces the  effects  of  age  and  it  is  as  easy  to    ob- 
erve  the  age  of  a  planet  as  of  a  man  by  simply 
looking  at  it.  Mountains  are  the  wrinkles  of  age 
which  always  tell  us  correctly    the   age   of   all 
matter. 

1 10  If  it  is  possible  that  Mars  on  account  of  its 
pigmy  size,  is  in  advance  of  the    Earth,    when 
at  the  same  orbit  or  age,  it  must   still   be    in  a 
very  primitive  condition  in  the  production    of 
any  kind  of  life. 

111  The  first    life     generated   on    a     cooling 
planet,  hy  the  laws  of  evolution,  would  be  gov- 
erned by  the  conditions  and  would  no  doubt  be 
plant  life.  From  this  it  must  slowly  evolve  and 
millions  of  years  the  poisons  of  its  low  swamps 
and  rotting  vegetation,  would  not   permit    any 
higher  type  of  life  than  snakes. 

112  On  our  Earth  we  have  the  records  written 
in  the  rocks  showing  that  even  the  birds    were 
serpentine  during  all  the  long  ages  of  the    for- 
mation of  coal,  when  there  were  no    mountains 
and  when  the  vegetation    by   the   asistance   of 
the  Earth's  inner  heat,  was]  of  such    enormous 
size  and  quantity. 


46 

113  Mars  is  blessed  with  two  moons.  Deimos 
the  largest  is   12,900  miles  from    the    planet's 
surface,  while  Phobos    the    inner    one    is    but 
3,000  miles   and    makes    a   revolution    around 
the  planet  in  seven  and  one  half  hours  or  three 
times  while  Mars  is  turning  once  on    its    axis 
and  for  that  reason  Phobos  has    the   destintion 
of  rising  in  the  west  and  setting  in  the  east. 

114  'Bf>th  these  moon  are  dead  moons,  having 
turned    their    magnetic    poles    to    the   planet. 
There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that    within  a 
few  centuries  this  little  satelite  will  have  ended 
his  long  journey  by  plunging  into    the    liquid 
center  of  Mars  an:l  by  doing   so,  at    the    same 
time  probably  raise  some  fair  sized   mountains 
and  make  a  good  deep  harbor  for    the    use    of 
future      Martesian     mariners.     A      percetable 
shortening  of  the  time  of   its   orbit   should    be 
measurable  in  a  few  decades. 

115  The  discovery  of  the  moons  of  Mars    was 
predicted  by  Voltaire,  Kepler  and  Swift,  by  cal- 
culating the  ratio  of  the  number  of  moons  from 
Saturn  to  Venus.  The  number   of    moons    fol- 
lowing the   planets'    makes    in    itself    a  most 
interesting  stud}',    well    calculated    to    set   an 
inquiring   mind   to  work  in  earnest  when    con- 
sidered in  connection  with  this  discovery.    The 
further  and  still  more  astonishing  fact  that  they 
also  obey  the  law  of  inverse  squares  in  aproch- 
ing  their  planets,  gives  another  volume  of  evi- 


47 

dence  to  still  more  overwhelmingly    prove  the 
procession  of  planets  to  be  correct  (ch.  xii). 


CHAPTER  VII. 


THE     EARTH. 

WHAT  THE  ROCKS  AND  DEPOSITS  HAVE 
TO  SAY  OF  THE  PAST. 

116  The   next   planet,    which   is  also   in  its 
proper  place  of  half  way  from  Mars  to  the  Sun, 
is  our  own  blessed  Mother  Earth,  perhaps    in 
the   very  prime  of  her  motherhood. 

117  Prof.    Isaac   N.   Vail,   in  his    excellent 
work,  "The  Story  of  the  Rocks,"  gives  both  Sat- 
urn and  Jupiter  younger  dates  than  the  Earth. 
He  does  not  attempt  to  show  why  or  give  rea- 
sons for  their  positions  in  space,  but  goes  on  to 
give  proofs  that  the  earth   has  long  eons  ago 
passed  the  stages  through  which  they  are  pas- 
sing now. 

118  Although  the  Earth  is  only  half  as  far 
from  the  Sun  as  Mars,  and  the  winters  half  as 
long  it  has  many  times  more  snow  at  its  winter 
poles.  The  snow  sometimes  reaches  its  tropical 
lines,  completely  covering  the  temperate  and 
frigid  zones;  while  Mars  only  has  a  small  cap 
of  snow  around  its  arctic  and  antartic  circles 
during  winters  twice  as  long  as  ours,  prov- 
ing, beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt,  that 


48 

Mars  has    much   more  internal  heat    than   the 
Earth. 

119  That  the  Earth  has  been    much  hotter 
than  it  is  now  is  plainly  shown  by  the  history 
which    nature   and    time   have  faithfully  and 
plainly  written  upon  the  rocks  of  its  crust  with- 
out sentiment,  fear  or  favor.      Reference  may 
be  had  to  any  good  geology  or  encyclopedia,  as 
there   is    no    disagreement     upon    that    point 
among  savants. 

120  At  the  time  the  fire  rocks  were  first  hard- 
end,  it  is  evident  by  their  construction,  as  well 
as   by  reason,    that  there  was  no  water  on  the 
face  of  the  Earth.      No  doubt  it  was  held  sus- 
pended or  pushed  out  to  a  certain   distance   in 
ths  form  of  vapor  by  the  force  of  heat,  and  that 
it   only   fell    after  the  force  of  heat  had    suffi- 
ciently   subsided    so    that  the  force  of  gravity 
could  condense  and  bring  it  down,  first  at    the 
winter  poles,  where  the  force  of  heat  was   the 
weakest. 

121  Prof.  Vail's"  Annular  Theory"  of  the  fall- 
ing of  the  snows  and  vapors  at  the  poles,  would 
not  be  in  opposition    therefore,   to  nature,  and 
would  be  in  line  with  this  idea  of  the  procession 
of   planets,  which,    after    we    have    examined 
every  part  in  detail,  and  the  old  laws  and  new 
laws  governing  it,  forms  such  a  beautiful  picture 
of  truth,  and  moreso   when  we   see  the  snows 
falling  at  the  poles  of  Mars. 


49 

122  In  very  deep  mines  it  is  found  there  is  a 
regular  increase  of  in  the  temperature  as  we  go 
down.    This  seems  to  be  almost  universal  wher- 
ever men  have  sunk  shafts  or  bored  wells   to 
great   depths,    and    iu  some  deep  mines   it  is 
almost  impossible  for  men  to  perform  their  labor 
on  account  of  the  heat,  all  of  which  shows  that 
inside  of  a  certain  crust  the  Earth  is  more  than 
likely  a  molten  mass. 

123  There  are  also  scattered  over  the  face  of 
the  Earth  many  hundreds  of   enormous    vent- 
holes  or  safety  valves,   called   volcanoes,  which 
open  down  into  the  molten  center  and  allow  the 
escape  of  gasses  and  fire  at  such    times   as  the 
pressure  is  very  great.      And  yet  with  all  these 
safety  openings    there   are  often    great   earth- 
quakes which  destroy  life  and  property  of  un- 
told value. 

124  Judging  by  the  time  it  has  taken,  the  sed- 
ementary  rocks  to  form    and  by  the   depth   of 
the  drift  covering  the  first  implements   used  in 
connection  with  a  brain,  the  very  earliest   and 
most  crude  human-like  creatures  could  not  have 
existed  but  a  few  hundred  thousand  years  ago 

125  If  tha  record  of  the  stars  could  have  been 
kept  from  the  very  birth  of  man's  intellect    to 
the  present  time,  there  would  probably  be  very 
little  perceptible  change,  unless   in  the    flimsy 
rings  of  Saturn;  the  time  of  the  orbits  of  some 
of  the  small  moons,  or  possibly  the  bursting  of 


50 

Asteroids,  so  vast  is  the  difference  between 
400,000,000  years, the  estimated  time  between  the 
age  of  planets,  and  100,000  years,  the  estimated 
time  since  human  life  began  on  earth. 

126  There  are  many  good  treaties  upon  what 
are  usually  known  as  the   glaciers,    which    are 
very  profitable  to  the  student  who  wishes  to  fol- 
low out  the  argument  of  this  theory;  one  of  the 
best,  perhaps,  is  the  work  of  Prof.  John  Fisk, 
called  "The  Journeys  of  an    Evolutionist,"  and 
the   various  other    works    referred   to  by  him. 
What  are   known   as    glaciers    were,    however, 
caused  by  the  cooling  of  the  Earth,  first  at  the 
poles,  where  it  was  coldest  aud  where  it  was  in 
darkness  of  winter  (at  that    time    being    at   or 
near  where  Mars  now  is),  twelve  months  instead 
of  six,  as  now,  where  the  water    first   made    its 
appearance  as  snow  in  the  winter  months  and 
as  rain  in  the  summer,    if   at   all.     No    doubt 
when  one  of  these  long  winters   broke  up   and 
the  winter  pole  was  again  turned  to  the  Sun  for 
a  year,  assisted  by  the  great  internal  heat,  there 
would  be  a  great  rushing  of  waters  to  the  south, 
and  a  great  filling  of  canals   and   a    hissing  of 
steam,  and  we  point  to  Mars  as  proof  of  it;  al- 
though as  we  have  already  shown,  Mars,  on  ac- 
count of  its  small  size,  must  be  considerably  in 
advance  of  ordinarv  sized  planets  in  cooling. 

127  Tne  Moon  is  so  near  the  Earth    that    we 
have  asolute  knowledge  that  it  has    no    atmos- 


61 

phere  and  this  fact  is  given  as  the  reason  of 
the  particularly  defined  lines  between  lights 
and  shadows  and  the  absence  of  twilight  on 
oar  lesser  luminary. 

128  The  man  in  the  Moon  sees  a  grand  show 
of  changing  phases  of  the  Earth,  the    same    as 
the  Moon  changes  from  dark  to  crescent    and 
full.  The  Earth  makes  a  bright    reflected  light 
upon  the  Moon,  fifteen  times  as  bright    as  the 
moonlight  on  the  Earth.  It  is  earthlight  which 
enables  us  to  see  the  darker  part  of    the  Moon 
when  it  is  in    crescent.     It    is  therefore  never 
dark  on  the  Moon  at  any  point  from  which  the 
Sun  or  Earth  can  be  seen. 

129  Here  is  an  instance  of  sunlight    reflected 
from    the    Earth    and    again    reflected      back 
from  a  surface  which    is    known    to    have  no 
atmosphere. 

130  Some  Geologists  and  Astronomers  believe 
the  Earth  has  once  changed  its  poles    and    cite 
instances  of  mastodons  froze  into  the  ancent  ice 
of  Alaska  and    Siberia    with    their   stomaches 
filled  with  tropical  vegetation.     This   certainly 
indicates  something     having    happened    very 
suddenly  but  if  the  poles  ever   changed    to  re- 
volve on  the  line  of  its  equator,  since  ordering 
the  life  of  mastodons,  we  would  find  the    lines 
of  ice  drift  in  two  big  series  of  circles  with  their 
centers  opposite  each  other  along  the  line  of  the 
equator,  whereas  they  are  in  circles  parallel  to 


52 

the  present  poles  with  evidence  that  they  have 
never  been  otherwise. 

131  Through  a  large  telescope  the    moon    has 
more  the  appearence   of  having    been    pelted 
with  all  sized  Meteors  and    Asteroids    than    of 
being  rent  by  volacnoes.    No  doubt  the  Earth 
would  show  many  such  places    were   it   not  for 
the  elements  (which  are  absent  on  the   moon), 
removing  the  evidence,  besides    two    thirds  of 
the  Earth's  surface  is  covered  by  water    which 
gives  no  sign.    The  canyon  Diablo,   N.  M.,  is 
apparantly   one   of    these    holes    where    large 
quantities,  of  meteor  or  asteroid  matter  is    said 
to  have  been  taken  out.  It  is  possible  that    the 
last  moon  which  fell  to  the  earth  may  have  left 
some  trace  which  may  yet  be  recognized  in  some 
great  sea  or  sink  but  the  probabilities  are  that 
it  fell  when  the  Earth  had  but  a  thin  crust  and 
passed  into  the  molten  interior  leaving  no  mon- 
oleith. 

132  The  Moon  is  shortening  her  orbit  about 
one  minute  in  25,000  years,  so  it  is  hardly  likely 
that  science  will  ever  be  able  to    measure     an 
actual  shortening  either  of  the  time   in    which 
she  completes  an  orbit  or  in  the  lessening  of  the 
diameter  of  her  orbit. 

133  In    the    shortening  of  the  time    of  the 
Earth's  orbit  there  should  be  enough  difference 
in  a  few  centuries  to  be  measurable,   if  we  had 
perfectly  true  instruments    to    measure    time 
and  position. 


53 

134  There  are  so  many  things  to  be  considered 
in  connection  with  this  discovery  and  so  many 
places  to  check  back  and  forth  upon  each  other 
for  proof  that  there  can  be  but  very  short  lived 
objection  to  it.    When  it  is  admitted,  it  will  not 
take  scientists  long  to  clear  up  many  mysteries 
now  supposed  to  be  unknowable. 

135  There  is  no  mystery  of  nature  that    does 
not  dissolve  into  simple  law  when  placed  under 
the   lens  of  the  discovery  of  the  procession  of 
planets. 

CHAPTER     VIIL 


VENUS. 

MAY  BE  A  DEAD  WORLD.     LITTLE    OR 

NO     WATER.     LIFE     MAY 

STILL  EXIST. 

136  The  next  planet  towards  the  sun  is  our 
very  nearest  neighbor  Venus,  in  the  same  ratio 
of  half  way  to  the  Sun  from  the  Earth.  It  is 
almost  the  same  sizes  as  the  Earth  and  nOydoubt 
has  during  the  past  400,000,000  years  or  a  part 
of  that  time,  sustained  life,  perhaps  human  life. 
We  can  produce  no  reason  why  the  material  of 
which  Venus  was  made  was  different  from  the 
material  of  which  the  Earth  and  all  the  other 
planets  are  made.  This  being  the  case  the  condi- 
tions would  be  the  same  and  probably  at  the 
same  distance  from  the  Sun,  nature,  using 


54 

the  same  material  and  under  the  same  condi- 
tions would  evolve  much  the  same  kind  of  life, 
both  in  plants  and  animals. 

137  If  then  there  is  in  our  own  solar    system 
another   planet   which  supports  human   life  it 
must  be  Venus;  but   the  probabilities  are   that 
the  time  has  long  since   passed   which    would 
support  any  kind  of  life.     There  is  now  some 
well  established  doubt  about  Venus  revolving 
upon  her  axes  in  the  same  time  as  the  earth, 
and    it  is  now  claimed  by  many  astronomers 
that  she  rotates   but  once  on  her   axes  during 
her  orbit  around  the  Sun,  i.  e.,  (hat  she  is  held 
with  one  face  to  the  Sun   continual^.     If  this 
is  proven  to  be  true,  then  she  is  already  a  dead 
world,  and  we  could  not  hope  to  find  life,  either 
upon  the  side  under  the  eternal  blaze  of  the 
Sun,  or  upon  the  side  of  cold   and  everlasting 
darkness. 

138  Venus  is  but  a  few  hundred  miles  less  in 
diameter   than  the   Earth  and   when   the  two 
planets  are  on  the  same  side  of  the  Sun,  they 
are  only  27,000,000  miles  apart,  so  that  we  may 
yet  be  able  by  the  use  of  greater  and  better  tel- 
escopes, other  instruments  and  photography,  to 
become    much    better  acquainted    during    the 
present  century. 

139  Venus  receives  twice  as  much  light  from 
the  Sun  as  we  do,  and  if  the  atmosphere  is  very 
dense,  it  would  increase  the  heat   greatly,  by 


55 

the  friction  of  waving,  in  passing  through  it. 

140  Some  astronomers  consider  its  brightness 
due  to  a  metalic  luster  received  from  the  heat 
of  the   Sun,  and  if  the  planet  keeps  but   one 
face  to  the    Sun,   it    would    certainly  become 
greatly  heated,  which  experiment  can  be  made 
on  our  own   great  deserts,  like   Death    Valley 
during  fourteen  hours  of  sunshine,  where  the, 
sand    becomes  so  hot  that  it  will   blister   the 
tough    soles    of  old  forty-niners    who    walked 
across  the  plains  more  than  fifty  years  ago  and 
have    walked    thousands   of    miles  every   year 
since,  prospecting,  from  one  delectable  moun- 
tain to  another,  hunting  for  the  elusive  yellow 
metal. 

141  Another  popular  fallacy  for  sensational 
publication,  is  that  the  heavenly  bodies  contain 
great  stores  of  wonderfully  valuable   unknown 
substances,   or   are    composed  of    deposits    of 
diamonds,    other  jewels    and   precious    metals. 
The    fact,    however,  'undoubtedly  is  that  they 
are   composed    of    the    same    material    as    the 
Earth,  but  that  at  different  stages  of  their  ex- 
istence   these    metals   and  substances  were   in 
difierent  forms,  sometimes  as  solids,  sometimes 
as  liquids,  sometimes  as  gases,  and   sometimes 
as  separated  elements;   but   as  they  pass  any 
given  point  on  their  way  to  the  Sun,  their  con- 
ditions are  perhaps  almost  identical.     Consid- 
ering such  facts  as  are   well   known,  with  good 


56 

judgment,  will  not  permit  us  to  think  otherwise. 

142  Sometime,  so  far  in  the  future  that  it  is 
of  little  concern  to  us,  except  to  help  us  under- 
stand our  present  surroundings,  the  Earth  will 
have  reached  the  position  of  Venus,  and  at  that 
time    if    there   is    a   living   creature  upon    the 
planet,  we  may  confidently  trust,  that  it  will  be 
the  animal  man,  whose  brains  will  enable  him 
to  conform  to,  and  provide  against  the  chang- 
ing conditions.     For  that  reason  it  is  a  possi- 
bility, that  there  is  human  life  remaining  on 
Venus,  but  it  is  an  impossibility  that  it  has  yet 
commenced  upon  Mars. 

143  The  time  of  Venus'  trip  around  the  Sun 
is  two  hundred   and   twenty-five  days  or   one 
hundred  and   forty-five  days  shorter  than  our 
own   year.     She   is   7,700  miles   in    diameter. 
Having  cooled  of  her  inner  heat  the  crust  has 
very  likely  taken  all  the  water,  as  the  crust  of 
our  own  Earth  is  doir.g  so  rapidly,  and  she  is 
thus  shrinking  by  condensation,  Hearing  death. 

144  The  dense   atmosphere,    which    may    be 
made  up  of  the  poisonous  gases  left  by  the  in- 
habitants after  their  busy  life  (speaking  collect- 
ively) of  400,000,000  is  like  a  pall,  to  hide  her 
dead  past  from  us,  and  therefore  little  is  known 
of  her  surface 

145  One  of   her  mysteries  would   be  solved 
and  help   to  corroborate   the    solution    of  the 
working  of  the  solar  system,  if  we  could  find 
evidence  of  her  last  moon,  upon  her  surface. 


57 

According  to  the  proper  procession,  herein,  her 
last  moon  fell  when  she  was  near  her  present 
position,  very  likely  since  she  was  devoid  of 
animal  and  plant  life,  and  of  course  when  her 
crust  was  hundreds  of  miles  in  thickness.  In 
this  case  we  should  be  able  to  find  some  sign  of 
it,  and  especially  if  it  was  anything  like  the 
size  of  our  own  Moon,  which  is  2,163  miles  in 
diameter.  No  doubt  so  large  a  solid  body 
would  break  up  entirely,  but  in  the  absence  of 
Avater,  so  large  a  mass  should  be  visible  in  some 
direction. 

146  It  can  hardly  be  possible  that  it  is  ice 
and  snow  (as  some   astronomers   maintain)  at 
the  poles  of  Venus,  which  makes  the  horns  of 
the  crescent  appear  brighter  than  the  body  of 
of  the   planet.     In  the   first  place,    it   is  more 
than  likely  to  be  too  hot  for  ice  and  snow,  upon 
the  light  side  of  the  planet,   which  is  so  near 
the  Sun;   there  is  scarcely  likely  to  be   water 
enough  left,  to  be  lying  idle  as  ice  and  snow  and 
lastly,  although  we  do  not  know  the  inclination, 
of  the  planet's  axis  exactly,  our  common  sense 
must  assure  us,  that  there  could  not  be  ice  and 
snow  at  both  poles,  at  the  same  time. 

147  The  brightness   at  the  horns  of  the  cres- 
cent, are  probably,   due  to  an  optical  illusion, 
which   could    be  explaied  by  a  good    optician, 
and  cured  by   using  a  camera,   and   looking  at 
the  photograph,    which    is   as   cruelly  just    as 


58 

nature,  having  neither  conscience,  imagination 
or  sympathy. 

148  In  approaching  the  Sun,  there  must  be  a 
a  point,  no  doubt  far  beyond  Venus,  where  the 
Sun's    heat    will    bring  the   water   out  of    the 
cracks  and  depths  of  the  dead  planet,  reduce  it 
to  vapor  and   repulse  or  drive  it  back,  by  the 
force  of  heat;  because  we  must  know  there  can 
be  no  water  or  moisture  in  the  vicinity   of  the 
Sun,    unless   it   becomes  again    a    part   of  the 
rocks.     Perhaps  in  doing  this  the  planet   will 
be  broken   up  into   fragments  by  great  explo- 
sions (see    chapter  xvi)  and  go  into  the  Sun 
gradually  as  asteroid  or  meteor  chunks. 

CHAPTER  IX. 
MERCURY. 

A    DEAD    WORLD,    WHICH    HOLDS 

BUT    ONE    FACE    TO 

THE    SUN. 

149  Next,  still  in  the  same  decreasing  ratio 
of  distance  from  the  Sun,  half-way  from  Venus, 
comes  Mercury,  still  smaller  and  more  dense,  a 
dead  world,  worn  out  and  almost  ready  for  the 
last  funeral  fire,  which  will  finally  add  it  to  our 
monster  central    parent.     A  dead   world     like 
our  own  dead  Moon,   keeping  but  one   face  to 
the   Sun  while  it   is  being   gradually  dragged 
within  reach  of  those  great  waving  tongues  of 


59 

fire,  which  reach  out  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
miles,  seeking  what  they  can  devour. 

150  Murcury  has  neither  air  or  water  and  can 
be  of  no  more  use  to  nature ,  except  to  donate  its 
remains  to  the  great  burning  center  of  life, to  be 
rejuvenated  by  the  purifying    dissolution  and 
expansion  of  fire,  and  again  be  sent  out  in   due 
time  and  form  to  the  remote  regions  of  space  by 
the  force  of  heat. 

151  The  Sun  is  the  great  furnace  or  mixing 
pot  where  the  planets,  moons,  comets,  asteroids, 
meteors  and  all  other  returning  matter  is  melted 
mixed  together  and  carried  away  by  the  force  of 
heat,     in    the     exact    proportion     of    matter 
in  nature.  The  spectroscope  shows  a  sunbeam 
to  be  composed  of  the  same  material  as  every 
other   sunbeam    and  every    other   world    and 
all   matter. 

152  Mercury  is  36,000,000  miles  from  the  Sun 
but  its  nearest  approach  is  28,000,000  miles  and 
at  such  times  the  Sun's  heat  is  twelve  times  as 
great  as  on  the  Earth  and  on  an  average,  seven 
times  as  great.  All  this  blazing  sunlight  comes 
on  but  one  side  of  the  planet  and  must  convert 
that  side  into  a  bake-oven   while   the  opposit 
side  is  in  continual  darkness. 

153  A  dead  moon  has  a  change  of  day  and 
night  but  a  dead  planet  is  held  with  its  attracted 
pole  to  the  Sun  itself  and  therefore  can  have  no 
change  of  day  and  night  or  of  winter  and  sum- 
mer. 


60 

154  Every  planet  or  other  separate  particle  of 
matter    in    the    universe,    be   said    particle    a 
great  planet  like  Jupiter  or  an  atom  of  micoro- 
scopic  dust,  has  its  north  and  south   magnetic 
poles.  This  motion  or  guiding  force  may  be  a 
part  of  the  living  energy  of  the  force  of  heat  or 
it  may  be  an  attraction   entirely  outside  of  the 
solar  system,    some  great  center  or  community 
of  interests   towards    which    all  magnetic  poles 
pointer  parallel. 

155  When  a  planet  nears  the  Sun   or  a  Moon 
nears  its  planet,  there  is  a  point  at  which  the 
smaller  body  turns  its  positive  magnetic  pole  to 
the  larger,  the  same  as  a  needle  points  to  a  near- 
by compass.   This  is  what  has  happened  to  Mer- 
cury, and  the  Sun  and  Mercury   are  now  one 
magneticaly    and   will  comparatively    soon  be 
one  body  (see  magnetic  pole,  Chambers'  Ency- 
clopedia). 

156  If  the  time  ever  comes  when    we  can 
examine  the  solar  systems  of  other  Suns,  by  the 
use  of  larger  telescope  or  new  methods,  (  there 
will  be  a  way  provided  no  doubt,  by  which   we 
can    see     by     electricity     without     regard    to 
distance)  it  will  found  that  they  are  operating  on 
the  same  Jprinciples  and  under  the  same  laws, 
and  that  the  dead  planets   and  moons  the  same 
as  our  own,    are  guided  by  the  same  kind  of 
magnetic  poles. 

157  Mercurv   travels  around  the  Sun   in  an 


61 

ellipse  and  increases  its  speed  when  nearing  the 
Sun  and  decreas  es  it  again  when  receeding  on 
the  opposite  curve,  which  should  prove  that  a 
planet  increases  its  speed  as  it  nears  the  Sun. 
There  is  no  mystery  about  it,  but  at  every 
planet,  towards  the  Sun  is  down  and  from  the 
Sun  is  up,  so  that  as  Mercury  is  falling  towards 
the  Sun  by  nearing  it  in  its  orbit  we  see  that  it 
actually  does  increase  its  speed  by  falling  tow- 
ards the  Sun  in  thus  nearing  in  its  orbit  (see  chp 
xiii). 

158  Our  own  Moon  is  a  like  example  and  Ec- 
kels comit  posative  proof  that  a  heavenly  body 
has  shortend  its  orbit  three  weeks  in  a  period 
less  than  three  years.    This  is  but  a  light  body 
but  it  is  governed  by  the  same    laws.     If  this 
comet  shortens  its  orbit  and  we  have  the  record, 
then  we  cannot  longer  say  truthfully,  that  cen- 
trifugal force  is  equal  to  the  force  of  gravity.  It 
shows  us  that  a  heavenly  body  is  not  compelled 
to  ocbupy  exactly  the  same  orbit  forever  but  that 
tt  can  shorten  its  orbit. 

159  In  examning  Mercury  with  a  telescope 
the  sunlight  interferes  so  much  that  there  is  lit- 
tle hope  of  ever  being  able  to  make  any  discov- 
eries upon  its  surface,  until  a  new   method  of 
seeing  through    electricity  without  wires  is  in- 
vented. 


CHAPTER     X. 
THE  INNER  ASTEROIDS 

A    MISSING    PLANET.     MAY 
BE     ASTEROIDS. 
VULCAN. 

160  According  to  the  regular  ratio  of  the  law 
of  inverse   squares  obeyed  by  the  distances  of 
the  other    planets  from  the  Sun  (n.  90),  there  is 
room  for  and  should  be  another    small  planet 
about  15,000,000  miles  from  the  Sun.  However 
it  is  a  posibility  of  this  theoiy,  in  fact  it  is  un- 
doubtedly true  that  this  missing  planet  is  another 
case  of  asteroids,  or  a  planet  which  has   been 
bursted  from  some  cause  (  n.  101 ),  and  left  a 
stream  of  fragments  in  its  orbit. 

161  There  are  many  reasons  to  believe  this  to 
be  the  case,  one  reason  being  that  there  is  no 
planet  where  there  should  be  one  and  an  even 
better  reason  being,  that  vast  bodies   of  solid 
material  are  continually   falling  into   the  Sun 
leaving  great  black  holes  hundreds  of  miles  in 
diameter,  and  splashing  firey  fluids  thousands 
of  miles  in  height, 

162  By  keeping  a  record  of  the  sun-spots  for 
a  number  of  years,  it   has  been   found  that  the 
spots  have  certain  periods  when  they  are  much 
more    numerous   than  at  other  times.    If  they 
are   made  by    Arteroids    falling  into  the  Sun, 


68 

this  would  be  likely  to  happen,  as  they  would 
hardly  be  likely  to  reach  entirely  around  their 
ordit,  90,000,000  miles  and  if  so,  they  would  be 
more  plentifull  in  some  places  than  in  others.  In 
bursting  as  much  matter  would  be  thrown  into 
shorter  as  into  longer  orbits  and  we  can  easily 
understand  that  they  would  be  so  greatly  shat- 
tered that  it  would  be  millions  of  years  before 
they  would  all  be  drawn  into  the  Sun. 

163  These  little  bodies  probably  travel  faster 
than  any  members  of  the  solar  system,  with  the 
possible  exception  of  a  Comet  when  making  its 
short   turn  around  the  Sun.  Giving  them   the 
same  ratio  of  increase  in  speed  according  to  the 
law  of  inverse  squares  which  the  other  planets 
obey  from  Neptune  to  Mercury  these  should  be 
traveling  on  an  average  of  about  5,500,000  miles 
per  day,  but  these  which  have  come  near  enough 
toplunginto   it,   are  moving  at   the   lightning 
speed  of  9,000,000  milles  per  day. 

164  No  wonder  that  when  one  of   them    falls 
into  the  Sun  there  are  great  magnetic  disturben- 
ces  throughout  the  solar  system,  at  least  as  far 
as  the  Earth   where  records    have   been    kept 
since  it  became  safe  to   believe    the    Earth    is 
round  or  to  own  a  telescope. 

165  Magnetic  observtories  are  located    in    all 
parts    of      the    world,    where     delicate     mag- 
netic instruments  are    suspended    so   they  will 
be    agitated    by    any    magnetic    influence.    In 
watching  sun  spots  in    connection    with   these 


64 

delicate  needles  and  magnets,  it  has  been  found 
that  sun-spots  cause  them  to  vibrate  violently. 
At  such  times  come  the  splendors  of  the  Aroras 
in  the  north,  but  when  there  are  few  sun-spots 
the  Aroras  and  magnetic  needles  are  at  rest. 

166  There   are      many    notable    records    in 
recent  years  of  the  magnetic  influence  of  sun- 
spots  upon  these  insrtuments,  as  well  as    upon 
the  atmosphere  and  electrical  condition  of   the 
weather,  which  shows  that  the  electric  or   heat 
force  reaches  out  to  every  part  of  the  solar  sys- 
tem in  its  controll  of  the  motions  of  matter. 

167  Sep,  1st,  1859  was  a  notable  day  for  elec- 
tric storms  and  magnetic  disturbences    on  all 
parts  of  the  Earth.  In   Europe    and    America, 
telegraphic  aparatus  and  lines  were  demolished 
by  over  charging  from  nature.  Flame   followed 
recording  pens  and  the   Auroras  of   the    polar 
zones  reached  almost  to  the  tropics, 

168  Late  in  the  afternoon  an  English  astrone- 
mer  who  was  making  observations  of  a  group  of 
sun-spots,   saw    two  brilliant    splashes  of  fire 
which  traveled  35,000    miles  along   the    Sun's 
disk  in  five  minutes. 

159  On  Aug,  3rd,  1872  an  observation  was 
made  at  the  Rt>cky  Mountain  observatory  by 
Prof.  Young,  who  observed  great  splashes  of 
fire  on  the  Sun  which  he  supposed  to  be  erup- 
tions and  at  the  same  instant  when  light 
reached  the  Earth  from  this  fire,  the  magnetic 
needles  in  English  and  other  observatories  gave 


65 

notice  of  the  disturbance.  Prof.  Young's  nee- 
dle was  at  the  same  time  swung  entirely  clear 
of  the  scale. 

170  An  observation  taken  Mar.   26th,    1859, 
was  said  to  have  revealed  a  small  planet  cross- 
ing the  Sun's  disk  about  13,000,000  miles  from 
the  Sun.     It  was  named  Vulcan  and    was  sup- 
posed for  many  years    to    realy  exist,  but   the 
greatest  modern  telescopes  with  the.   assistance 
of  photography    have    failed    to    disclose    any 
such  planet.     This  may  have  been  a  very  large 
Asteroid  and  may  be  found  again. 

171  In  case  a  planet  broke  up  to  form   these 
Astroids  before  it  had  radiated  down  to  a  planet 
of  the  second  class,  there  would  be  an  immense 
amount  of  material  and   it    would   be   by    this 
time  greatly  scattered. 

172  There  is  known  to  be  one  Asteroid,  Eros, 
which  is  sometimes   inside  of   Mars'  orbit,    so 
easily  are  these  small  bodies  influenced  out  of 
their  original  orbits.      Being   so    small  and  so 
near  the  electric  light  of  the  Sun,  these   inner 
Asteroids  are  very  hard   to  see   but   no   doubt 
there  are  untold  billions  and  that  many  of  the 
largest  will  yet  be  photographed    passing   over 
the  Sun's  disk. 

173  What  excuse  can  astronomers  offer  for  a 
sun-spot  causing  such  great  eletrical  and    mag- 
netic energy  on  the  Earth,  other  than  disclosed 
by  this  simple  discovery,  the  chemical  dissolu- 
tion and  re-uniting  of  returning  elemetary  mat- 


66 

tertotheSun.  Its  sudden  disintegration  and 
chemical  reunion  with  the  Sun,  gives  that  body 
an  over-plus  of  energy  or  heat,  which  is  light, 
electricity  and  magnetic  energy,  and  its  equal  in 
energy  is  instantly  forwarded  through  space 
with  the  velocity  of  light.  It  is  a  simple  common 
sense  explanation,  devoid  of  foolish  mystery 
which  should  give  it  the  brand  of  truth  (n.  17). 


CHAPTER    XI. 

THE     SUN. 

THE  GREAT  VITAL  ENGINE  OF 

THE     SOLAR    SYSTEM. 

WASTING  ITS  ENERGY. 

174  The  Sun  is  the  great  central  engine  of 
the  solar  system   and    the   center  of  the    two 
great  forces  of  heat  and  gravity.    It  is  a  body  of 
small  density  but  is   886,500  miles  in  diameter 
and  therefore  1,300,000  times  as  large    as    the 
Earth.    Its  surface   revolves   at   the   equator  at 
the    rate     of    4,400     miles   per  hour,  and  at 
the  center   much  faster   as  it  is   known   to    be 
covered  by  a  loose  envelope  of  cloudy   matter 
which  would  naturally  drag  behind  the  motion 
of  the  more  solid  inside  matter. 

175  On  the  plane  of  its  equator  and  in   the 
same  direction,  travel  all  the  heavenly  bodies 
of  the  solar  system  (n.  34). 

176  This  great  body  is  supposed  even  by  Phys- 


67 

icists  who  endorse  the  wave  theory  of  light, 
to  be  composed  of  heat  in  the  form  ofgas,  light 
and  electricity,  which  it  is  forever  throwing 
away  into  space.  Prof.  Howe,  in  "A  Study  of 
the  Sky,"  pg,  202  says,  in  speaking  of  the  Sun's 
energy  "the  supply  cannot  be  infinite;  how  then 
can  the  radiation  be  maintained?".  This  has 
already  been  explained  in  proceeding  chapters 
(n.  17),  but  it  may  be  objected  that  there  would 
not  be  enough  returning  matter  by  such  a  slow 
process  as  the  returning  of  a  planet  once  in 
400,000,000  years.  The  answer  of  the  procession 
of  planets  is  a  double  answer;  first  there  is  no 
doubt  thousands  of  times  more  material  going 
back  to  the  Sun,  in  the  shape  of  neubulous 
matter,  sand,  meteors  and  cosmic  dust  which 
we  do  not  see,  than  is  brought  by  the  returning 
planets  (  n.  28),  and  second  that  the 
wasting  energy  of  the  Sun  is  not  nearly  as 
great  as  measured  by  Physicists  in  our  atmos- 
phere (see  ''Graduated  Atmospheres"),  where 
the  ray  of  light  in  passing  through  it  at  the 
rate  of  12,000,000  miles  per  minute,  must  create 
great  additional  friction  by  its  forced  waving 
motion  and  consequently  adds  by  this  friction 
to  the  real  heat  of  the  Sun  (see  ch.  xiv). 

177  Going  to  the  top  of  a  very  high  moun- 
tain where  the  air  is  more  rare  than  at  sea  level 
we  find  the  air  much  colder  although  nearer 
the  Sun.  There  are  even  snow  capped  moun- 


68 

tains  under  the  very  equrtor  and  if  we  could 
measure  the  heat  outside  of  the  air  where  the 
rays  travel  in  a  straight  line,  we  would  find 
it  very  much'  overestimated;  somuch  perhaps 
that  with  a  dead  world  occasionally  and  a  con- 
stant supply  of  other  returning  matter  as  above, 
the  supply  would  be  ample  to  keep  the  Sun  in 
its  usual  flourishing  condition. 

178  We  can  in  any  event  safely  trust  the  force 
of  gravity  to  carfully  guard,  collect  and  return, 
every  particle  of  matter,  to    the   smallest  frac- 
tional   part  of  an   ounce,   which    the   force   of 
heat  disintegrates  and  sends  out  into  space. 

179  What  is  known  as  the  zodiacal  light  is 
supposed  to  be  a  girdle  of  meteoric  dust  around 
the  Sun.  This  may  be  neubulous  matter  which 
has    crystalized   in  the  near  vicinity  of  the  Sun 
because  we  must  not  suppose  that  electricity  or 
energy  must    necessarily  reach  the   vicinity  of 
Neptune  before  it  commences  to  cool  and]  form 
into  crystals.  On  the  contrary  it  no  doubt  com- 
mences to  change    back   into  solid    material  as 
soon  as  it  leaves  the  solar  fires  and  much   of  it 
may  never  come  as  far  as  the  Earth. 

180  We  can  begin  to   realize  the  vast  amount 
of  unseen  matter  which  the    Sun    is    receiving 
when  we  consider  the  meteors  which  fall  upon 
our  own  little  planet  (n.  28). 

181  From   Neptune   the     Sun    appears    900 
times  smaller   than  from  the  Earth,  how  much 


69 

smaller  it  must  appear  then,  from  the  nearest 
fixed  star,  Alpha  Centuri,  which  is  25,000,000,- 
000,000  miles  away  where  it  would  appear 
2,699,700  times  smaller.  It  is  quite  doubtful  if  it 
could  be  seen  at  all  by  human  eyes  at  go  great 
a  distance. 

182  The  pole  star  is  twelve  and  one  half  times 
as  far  away  as  Alpha  Centuri  and  it  requires 
fifty  years  for  light  to  reach  the  Earth  from  it,  a 
di  tance  of  312,366,700,000,000,000  miles. 

183  Astronomers  estimate    that   Arcturus  is 
1,000,000  times  larger  than  our  Sun  or   1,300,- 
000,000,000  times  larger  than  the  Earth. 

184  It  has  been  estimated   that   some  of  the 
Suns  in  sight  are  large  enough  to  fill  the  orbit 
of  the  Earth   around  the   Sun,    or   186,000.000 
miles    in    diameter.    These     figures    although 
almost  incomprehesible,  give  us  a  hint   of  our. 
comparative  unimportance  when  considered  as 
a    part     of     nature     and    near    surroundings, 
because    these    suns  are    our     nearest   neigh- 
bors in  a   sea   of    untold    trillions,    appearing 
smaller  and  smaller  as  they    are  farther  away 
until  their  apparant  small  size  and  great  num- 
bers finally  melt  them  into  mists  of  white  fleecy 
clouds.  Our  own  Sun,  great  as  it  seems  to  us, 
would  not  be  missed  if  wiped  out  of  existence. 

185  What  monster  planets  some  of  these  big 
Suns  must  have  in  attendance,  upon  which  we 
would  appear  as   microbes   to    any    life    which 


70 

they  would  evolve.  Compared  with,  them,  our 
Earth  would  not  be  as  large  as  an  adobe  marble 
and  it  weuld  take  as  many  Earths  to  make 
one  of  them  as  it  would  take  adobe  marbles 
to  make  the  Earth. 

186  We  are   in  ignorance  of  the  Sun's  orbit 
because  we  do  not  know  where   it  is   going  or 
what  is^the  center  of  its  orbit,  but  we    may    be 
very  sure,  that  it  travels  on  an  orbit  and   from 
right  to  left. 

187  If  a  comet  comes  from    outside  of    the 
Sun's  orbit,  it  passes  around  it  from  left  to  right 
but  if  it  comes  from  inside  of  the  Sun's  orbit  it 
will  pass  around  it  from  right  to  left  (ch.  xiii). 

188  We  caanot  afford  to  leave  the  solar  sys- 
tem: in  a  little  book  like  this    or  at  this  time 
but  at  some  future  time,   perhaps   we  can   put 
our  reason  upon  old  Sol's  trail.  No  doubt  it  is  a 
long  trip  even  for  a  Sun  to  make  and  before  he 
returns  to  this  point  of  his  orbit,  faraway  Nep- 
tune may  have  passed  from   youth    to  old    age 
and  be  ready  for  disintegration,  in  the  present 
orbit  of  Mercury,  with   a  procession    of  planets 
following  him  and  obeying  the  same  law  of  in- 
verse squares  as   now,   both   in   their   distance 
from  the  Sun  and  their  speed  upon  their  orbits 

189  The  Planets  are  more  than  half  the  time 
outside  of  the    Sun's  orbit  although    there   is 
probably    not  much  curve  in    the    Sun's    orbit 
during  any  planet's  trip  around  it. 


CHAPTER    XII. 
MOONS. 

A  REGULAR  RATIO  OF  INCREASE 

FROM  VENUS  OUT  TO 

SATURN. 

190  There  is  an  interesting  fact  in  connection 
with    the   moons  or    satelites  cf  the    planets 
which  certainly  points  to  the  truth  of  the  Plan- 
ets being   of    different  ages.    Commencing   at 
Venus  and  going  outward  we  find   the   Moons 
arranged  as  follows; 

Venus  0 

Earth  1 

Mars  2 

Asteroid  ? 

Jupiter  5 

Saturn  8 

191  We  will  discuss    the   Moons   of   Uranus 
and  Neptune  in  the  next  chapter,  inasmuch  as 
they  are  so  far  away  that  only  a  few  of    them 
can  be  seen   and  traveling   in  contrary  orbits 
they  deserve  to  be  considered  as  Comets. 

192  The  question  now  is,  why  do  these  plan- 
ets loose  their  satellites  as  they    approach  the 
Sun.  Why  has  Saturn  eight   and    Venus  none 
with  a  gradual  decrease  between? 

193  Saturns'  moons   travel  around  it  in  the 
same  direction    that  the    planet    revolves  and 
almost  on  the  plane  of  its  equator.  The  outside 
moon  of  Saturn  is  farther  from  the  planet  than 


72 

the  moon  of  any  other  planet  whoes  moons  we 
can  see. 

194  According  to  the  laws  of  this  procession 
these  moons   are  first  caught  as  comets  and  are 

thereafter  gradually  drawn  in  to  their  planets 
in  the  same  way  and  by  the  same  laws  which 
draw  the  planets  to  the  Sun.  They  also  obey 
the  same  law  of  inverse  squares  in  their  distan- 
ces from  their  planets  which  the  planets  observe 
in  their  distance  from  the  Sun,  the  planet  act- 
ing as  the  center  of  gravity  for  these  bodies. 

195  Of  Saturn's  eight  moons,  lapetus  is  far- 
thest being  2,225,000  miles  distant.  Jupiter  has 
but  five  and  the  farthest  is  but  1,160,000  miles 
from  its  surface.  Here  is  followed  out  the  same 
ratio  of  distances  in  their  moons,  which  exists 
between  themselves  and  the  Sun.     Did  Jupiter 
not  have  as  many  moons  as  Saturn  when  at  the 
same  orbit?    Certainly  it  had  and  they  were  as 
far  away,  but  three    of  them  are  now  inside  of 
that  big  melting  envelop  of  carbon,    drawn    in 
by  the  force  oj  gravity  and  the  others  are  drawn 
one  half  closer. 

196  If  we  could  only  see  all  the  satelites  of  Nep- 
tune and  Uranus  we  would  no  doubt  find  Uran- 
us with  ten  or  more  moons  and  Neptune  with  a 
bakers  dozen.  Uranus'  mostdisant  moon  would 
be    five    million      and    Neptunes'  ten   million 
miles  away  but  when  we  come  this  side  of  Jupi- 
ter we  find  Astroid  bursted  leaving    no   moons 
of  record. 


73 

197  When  we  reach  Mars  we  find   the   num- 
ber of  noons  in  the  right  ratio    but    their    dis- 
tance from  the  planet  is  in  proportion    to  the 
size  of  that  little  world  (n.  106). 

198  Like  the  planets,  the  satellites  gain  speed 
on  their  orbits  obeying  the  samo  law  of  inverse 
squares,  decreasing  the  diameter  of  their  orbits 
in  the  same  invers  ratio  with  which    they    in- 
crease their  speed  along  their  orbits. 

200  Skipping  the  Asteroid  and  Mars  for  the 
reasons  given,  we  arrive  at  the  Earth  and  find 
our  outside  Moon,  our  last  one,  is  inexactly  the 
right  place  to  carry  out  the    proper   ratio    i.  e. 
239,000  miles  from  theEarth's  surface. 

201  All    the     moons    which      are    nearest 
their  planets  are  dead    moons,    and  are   held 
with  their  magnetic  poles  to  the  planets    the 
same  as  the  dead  planets  point  their  magnetic 
poles  to  the  Sun  in;  fact,  in  all  their  ways  they 
follow  the  same  laws  as  the  planets.    Why  not? 

202  Some   of  these    moons    may    be    large 
enough  to  create  internal  heat  enough  to    melt 
them  the  same  as    planets  are    melted  and  as 
our  own  Moon  seems  to  have  been    One  of  the 
moons  in  Saturn's  retinue  which  is  very  bright 
is  no  doubt   in  a  molten  condition. 

203  The  following  table  shows  the  ratio  which 
the  moons  follow  in  their  distances  from  their 
respective  planets; 


74 

Distance,  Theory,          Fact. 

Earth         240,000      239,000 
240,000  x  7-10     Mars          408,000 
408,000  x  10-16  Asteroids  658,000 
658,000x16-26    Jupiter    1,500,000    1,160,000 
1,160,000  x  24-52    Saturn    2,360,000    2,225,000 
2,225,000  x  52400  Uranus  4,000,000 

(  In  the  above  table  x   is    unavoidably   used 
for  the  plus  sign.) 

204  In  one  particular  these  moons  are  differ- 
ent from  planets,  they  cannot  keep   up    their 
procession,  and  as  each  moon  is  drawn  into  the 
planet,  it  has  one  moon  less  as  we]  have  seen, 
because  all  moon  material  is  being  used  by  the 
new  planets,  whereas  when  a  planet  is  drawn 
into  the  Sun,  its  place  is  easily  filled. 

205  Saturn  with  eight  moons,    Jupiter  with 
five,  Asteroid  bursted,  Mars    with  two,    Earth 
with  one  and  Venus  none;  pray  what  more  do 
we  require  to  show  that  centrifugal  force  is  not 
equal  to  the  force  of  gravity  and  that  they  "  do 
move"  toward  their  planets. 

CHAPTER     XIII. 
COMETS. 

HOW  THEY  MAKE  MOONS,  AND 

HOW  THE  ORBITS  ARE 

TURNED  OVER. 

206  This    power  in  nature  which    is  called 


75 

magnetic,  is  of  much  more  importance  than  it 
has  ever  recieved  credit  for,  although  it  has 
been  known  to  exist  for  a  long  time,  atle&st  as 
long  as  the  compass  has  been  used  for  naviga- 
tion. 

207  Make    the  old    familliar    experiment  of 
sprinkling  iron  filings  on  a  sheet  of  white  pa- 
per and  holding  a  magnet  under  it  and  notice 
the  form  taken  by  the  filings.    Turn  the  mag- 
net in  different  ways  and  watch    them  dance 
attendance.  Look  at  them  with  interst,  you  are 
viewing  a  minute  panorama  of  the  Universe,  or 
theentire  matter  in  existance,  although  we  have 
not  space  to  carry  out  the  argument    and    fur- 
nish the  reasons  and  proof  at  this  time. 

208  Let  us  not  leave  the  solar  system  at   the 
present,  except  to  remember  that  the  motion  of 
all  matter  is  the  same  and  that  it  is  the  expand- 
ing force  of  heat  which  gives  life  and  motion, 

209  Now  let  us  see  how  this    directing    mo- 
tion applies  to  the  contrary  moons  which    we 
find  attending  the  new  planets.  The    moons  of 
the  new  planets   always   revolve   backward  in 
their  orbit  at  first  for  the  reason  that  they    ars 
conaets  or  roving  masses  of  loose  material  out- 
side of  Neptune,  which  are  so  far  away  that  the 
Suns  force  of  gravity  draws  them  very  slowly  tow- 
ards it.  As  a  comet  slowly  moves  along,  we  will  say 
that  it  goes  within  reach  of  Neptune's  force  of 
gravity.    Being  so  much  nearer  to  Neptune,  it 


76 

immediately  starts  toward  that  planet  gaining 
speed  as  they  approach  each  other  and  of  course 
attempts  to  drop  into  that  planet.  Neptune  is 
moving  however,  and  the  comet  falls  behind  it 
the  same  as^a  comet  falls  behind  the  Sun  (n.  188) 
and  is  swung  around  the  planet  and  thus  com- 
mences an  orbit.  This  orbit  is  always  in  the 
wrong  direction  around  the  planet  because  it 
must  come  from  outside  of  Neptunes'  orbit 
where  the  unclaimed  material  is  located. 

210  If  a  comet  should  slip  past  Neptune  and 
be  caught  on  the  return  trip  it  would  pass 
behind  the  planet  from  right  to  left. 

211  One    position     which    our  new  satellite 
holds  is  correct,  its    poles   are  pointing    in    the 
right  direction  as  every  heavenly  body  does,  ex- 
cept those  which  have  approached  near  enough 
their  superiors  to  be  attracted  and  be    held    by 
their  magnetic  poles. 

212  This  contrary  moon  is  now    moving   in 
direct  conflict  to  the  motion  of   all    matter,    as 
we  see  in    the   only   one    of   Neptune's    moons 
which  is  large  enough  to  be  seen  at  so   great    a 
distance,  which  is  revolving  backward. 

213  Let  us  look  at  Uranus  now  and   we  find 
its  Moons  revolving  at  right  angles  to  the  plan- 
et's equator,  rising  in  the  south  and  setting   in 
the  north.  During  the  400,000,000  years  since 
at  the  orbit  of  Neptune,  the  power    which    we 
saw  arranging  the   iron    filings  has   gradually 


77 

turned  their  orbit  one  forth  of  the  way  over  or 
at  Saturn,  as  we  see,  half  way  over  or  end  for 
end,  and  we  find  them  almost  on  the  plane  of 
its  equator,  while  at  Jupiter  still  another  400,- 
000,000  years  we  find  them  exactly  right. 

214  In  order  to  illustrate  how  the  changing  of 
the  orbits  end  for  end  brings  the  revolution  ex- 
actly opposite,  take  a  wooden  hoop  and  mark 
arrows  on  it  pointing  from  left  to  right.  Hold 
the  hoop  level  with  a  globe  inside  of  it;  now 
turn  the  hoop  end  for  end,  turning  the  nearest 
edge  downward  and  the  farthest  edge  upward. 
When  it  is  end  for  end  it  will  be  found  that  the 
arrows  are  now  pointing  from  right  to  left.  If 
the  hoop  is  stopped  when  one  forth  of  the  way 
over  it  would  then  represent  the  orbit  of  these 
moons  at  the  position  of  Uranus  but  if  the  nearest 
edge  is  turned  up  instead  of  down,  the  Moons 
would,  at  the  position  of  Uranus  rise  in  the 
north  and  set  in  the  south. 
215  This  is  what  is  happening  to  the  orbits 
of  these  moons  of  Neptune,  Uranus,  Saturn  and 
Jupiter  as  we  can  readily  see  by  the  four  posi- 
tions they  hold  at  the  four  different  planets. 

216  A  great  storm  is  governed  by  the  same 
forces.  It  is  a  whirling  of  the  atmosphere  from 
right  to  left  around  a  storm  center.  This  storm 
center  also  travels  on  an  orbit  from  right  to  left 
and  Prof.  Willis  Moore,  chief  pf  the  U.  S. 
weather  bureau,  compares  them  to  the  motions 


78 

of  the  bodies  of  the  planitary  system    (Collier's 
Weekly,  Nov.  1900). 

CHAPTER    XIV. 
HEAT,  LIGHT  AND  ELECTRICITY. 

IT  IS  A  SUBSTANCE  AND    TRAVELS  UNSEEN 

LIKE  VAPOR.  CONSIDERING  THE 

DIFFERENT  THEORIES. 

217  Sunlight,  according  to  Sir  Isaac  Newton, 
before  whoes  clear  intelect  mystery  disappeared 
like  mist  before  the  genial   warmth  of  day,    is 
composed  of  the  minute  atoms  which  were  dis- 
integrated   to  produce    it,    traveling    through 
space  at  the  rate  of  192,000  miles   per  second. 

218  Any  solid  or  mineral   substance   can  be 
changed  by  the  force  of  heat  into  liquid,  and  by 
greater  heat,  into  the  invisible  vapor  of  light  or 
electricity.    Heat,  light  and  electricity   are   one 
and  the  same  and  are  but  different  conditions  of 
heat.  Either  can  be  readily  changed  into  either 
of  the  others, 

219  Light  and  electricity  then,  is  theinvsible 
substance   of  the  Sun    traveling  at   the  rate  of 
12,000,000  miles  per  minute  in  every  direction 
through  space.  At  this  rate  of  speed  we  can  see 
that  it  might  reach   great  distances  before    the 
heat  or  life  would  all  leave  it. 

220  There  is  also  another  theory  of  light,  the 
wave  or  undulating  theory,  which  gives    light 
no  substance  but  simply  a  vibration,  notwith- 


79 

standing  all  Astronomers  and  Physacists  agree 
that  the  Sun  is  gradually  loosing  its  energy  by 
radiation.  They  do  not  explain  how  it  can  vi- 
brate itself  away  while  its  vibrations:contain  no 
substance.  They  must  evidently,  consider  this 
the  one  exception  in  nature  where  something  is 
lost.  They  even  go  so  far  as  to  set  a  time  when 
the  Sun  can  furnish  no  more  light. 

221  How  they  get  rid  of  the  substance  of  the 
Sun  is  what  we  want  to  know  and  must  find  out. 
They  cannot  burn  it  up  and  destroy  it,  because 
there  can  be  no  loss  in  nature.  It  can  only  be 
changed  in  form.  Now  it  is  self    evident    that 
there  is  a  very  large  hole  in  this    wave   theory 
where  all  this  energy  is  escaping  in  the    color- 
less vapor  of  electricity. 

222  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  a  ray  of  light 
is  compeled  to  and  does  vibrate  thousands  of 
times  in  every  inch  of  an  atmosphere  it  passes 
through  at  the  great  speed  with  which  it  travels, 
in  atmosphere  in  which  even  a  fast  flying  bird 
must  dodge    sideways  in  order    to  relieve  the 
pressure  before  him. 

223  A  bolt    of  lightning  cannot  go  far  until 
the  air  in  front  of    it  becomes    so    compressed 
that  it  is  thrown  sharply  off  to  one  side  for  re- 
lief. The  flash  of  lightning  moves  so  much  fas- 
ter than  the  air  can  get  out  of  its  way  that  it   is 
compeled   to  seek  a  weaker  place    in   order    to 
pa&s.  Even  giant  powder   acts   so   much    more 


80 

quickly  than  air  can  get  out  of  its  way   that   it 
will  break  the  rock  upon  which  it  is  exploded. 

224  When  an  eagle  or  hawk  makes  his  swoop 
to  strike  his  prey,  he  comes  down  in  a  parabolic 
curve  or  in  other  words,  he  slides  upon  the 
air  in  exactly  the  least  curve  he  can  make  and 
still  prevent  the  air  from  packing  in  front  of 
him  and  checking  his  motion. 

225  No    doubt    light   or   electricity,    passing 
through  the  atmosphere  at  the  rate  of  193,000 
miles  per  second,  vibrates  39,000  times  in  every 
inch  it  travels,  and  more  or  less,    according   to 
the  density  of  the  air.  If  it  had  no  substance  it 
would  pass  straight  through.  It  could  not  pack 
the  air  in  front  of  it  and  be  thrown    back   and 
forth,  in  order  to  pass  through.  The  fact  that  it 
vibrtaes,  proves  that  it  is  an  invisible  substance 
passing  through  another  invisible  substance. 

226  Benj.    Franklin,  who  had  the  brains    re- 
quired to  discover  electricity,    considered    it    a 
fluid  substance,  capable  of    being    transmitted 
from  one  place  to  another  and  all  the  experience 
we  have  had  with  it  bince,  confirms  his  opinion 
It  is  even  stored  and  held  captive  to  be  used  as 
needed  to  do  half  the  work  of  the  world.  How 
could  this  be  possible  if  it  were  but   a    waving 
motion?  Would  it  keep  on  waving  in  the  box  in 
which  it  was    stored,  if  it  were  nothing,    to   be 
used  when  needed  to  preform  its    work?     Or, 
still    more   rediculous,  would    it  cease  waving 


81 

when  imprisoned,  and  commence  again  when 
we  touch  the  button.  How  rediculous  to  think 
of  such  a  situation. 

227  Electricity  is  a  power  of  heat   which  is 
is  doing  half  of  the   work  of  the  world  today, 
and  it  is  composed  of  matter  having  substance. 
All  space  is  apparently  filled   with    this   fluid, 
which  can  be  readily  collected  by  friction,  and 
converted  into  either  energy,  heat  or  light. 

228  A    beam   of  sunlight   does   not   vibrate 
nearly  so  rapidly  where  the  atmosphere  is  rare, 
as  is  shown  by  the  less   friction    or   warmth  at 
high  altitudes. 

229  An    astronomer   friend    of  the   author, 
writing   in    reply    to   the  first   or   preliminary 
edition  of  the  Processon  of  Planets,  a  four-page 
leaflet,  objects  to  the  theory  in  part,  and  believes 
that  sunlight  only  appears  to  the  sense  of  sight 
when  it  enters  our  atmosphere,  in  the  following 
words  and  figures,  to  wit:    "If  we  could  look  at 
the  sun,  from  outside  of  our  atmosphere,  we 
could  not  see  it."     In  that  case,  of  course  there 
would  be  no  use  looking  at  it,  but  we  can  look 
at  the  moon,  from  where   W3    are  and  see  sun- 
light reflected  from  a  surface  which  is  an  abso- 
lute   vacuum,  so    far  as  an  atmosphere"  is  con- 
cerned. 

230  A  mauser  bullet  travels  so   fast   that  the 
the   friction    against  the  air  causes  a  collection 
of  electricity,  which  is  discharged  into  the  first 


82 

object  which  the  bullet  touches.  If  it  penetrates 
a  human  body  there  is  a  sufficient  discharge  or 
explosion  to  oftentimes  mutilate  the  body,  but 
if  it  merely  grazes  the  skin,  there  is  a  discharge 
of  electric  energy  sufficient  to  cause  temporary 
paralysis  and  unconsciousness.  It  is  unreason- 
able then  to  contend  that  there  is  no  substance 
to  a  fluid  which  will  collect  on  a  flying  bullet 
strong  enough  to  knock  a  man  down.  You  can- 
not knock  a  man  down  with  nothing. 

231  In  some  of  the  great  mines  where  the  air 
currents  are  strong  and  the  workmen  wear 
rubber  boots  and  clothing,  it  becomes  necessary 
to  connect  a  wire  from  the  body  to  the  under 
part  of  a  boot,  in  order  to  ground  the  electricity 
which  the  friction  of  the  air  currents  collect  on 
the  workmen's  body.  Many  explosions  of  giant 
powder  are  known  to  have  occurred  where  these 
precautions  were  not  taken. 

282  The  theory  that  there  is  no  substance  in 
heat,  light  or  electricity,  simply  because  we  can 
not  see  it,  must  be  abandoned  (n.  265,). 

233  Even  scientists  may  have  hobbies  or 
theories  which  they  dislike  to  give  up,  but  a 
true  scientist  will  not  support  a  theory  which 
he  finds  to  be  wrong,  even  though  it  be  his  own 
theory.*  It  seems  rediculous  to  quibble  about 
the  wave  theory  or  deny  that  electricity  is  light 
and  travels  with  the  same  velocity  as  light, 
through  the  same  space  or  like  conductors,  and 
that  electricity  has  a  substance  and  more;  a 


83 

power  which  can  be  collected,  imprisoned  and 
used  to  perform  motion  at  any  future  time  de- 
sired. 

'  234  The  school  of  physicists  that  first  advo- 
cated the  wave  theory  of  light,  objected  to  the 
emission  theory,  because  they  said,  "The  par- 
ticles of  light,  if  they  exist,  must  be  inconceive- 
ably  small;  for  if  of  any  conceivable  weight  they 
would  infallibly  destroy  as  delicate  an  organ  as 
the  eye.  A  bit  of  ordinary  matter,  one  grain  in 
weight,  and  moving  at  the  rate  of  the  velocity 
of  light  would  possess  the  momentum  of  a  can- 
non ball  150  pounds  weight,  moving  at  the 
velocity  of  1000  feet  per  second." — (Light  and 
Electricity,  Tyndall.  Note  206.) 

235  This  they  considered  as  conclusive  proof 
that  the  emission  theory  was  wrong,  so  they  set 
up  the  wave  theory,  and  in  explaining  the  dif- 
ferent speeds  at  which  certain  colored  rays  un- 
dulate, or^  wave,  say;     "The   velocity   of   light 
being  192,000  miles  per  second,  if  we  multiply 
this  number  by  39,000,  we  obtain  the  number 
of  waves   of  red   light  in   192,000  miles.     The 
product  is  474,439,680,000,000.     All  these' waves 
enter  the  eye  in  a  single  second.     In  the  same 
interval  699,000,000,000,000  waves  of  violet  light 
enter  the  eye.     At  this  prodigious  rate   is    the 
retina  hit  by  the  waves  of  light." 

236  The   q-uestion   is,    which    of  these   two 
theories  of  light  would  hit  the  human  eye  the 


84 

hardest  and  tear  it  to  pieces  the  sooner?  Suppose 
Ave  are  looking  at  a  rainbow  and  see  all  the  colors 
at  once,  we  must  then  sum  up  how  many  times 
each  vibrates,  and  add  them  all  together,  to  get 
anywhere  near  the  truth  as  to  the  hitting  power 
of  this  wave  theory,  which  obtains  its  force  from 
a  simple  little  motion  at  the  sun. 

237  Let  us  examine  this  wave  theory  a  little 
farther  and  see  just  how  fast  it  can  go.     In  note 
219,  same  work,  Prof.  Tyndall,  speaking  in  favor 
of  the  theory,  says:     "In  the    case  of  light,  the 
ether   particles   oscillate    to  and  fro  across  the 
direction  in  which  the  light  is  propagated.     In 
scientific  language,  the  vibrations  of  sound  are 
longitudinal,  while  the  vibrations  of  light  are 
transversal.     In  fact,  the  mechanical  properties 
of  ether  are  rather  those  of  a  solid  than  of  air." 

238  Then  this  ray  of  light,  traveling  by  the 
wave    theory,  must   stop,  turn  almost   straight 
back  and  start  again  78,000  times  every  inch. 
The  distance  it  travels,  back  and  forth,  is  enor- 
mous; but  a  whole  lot  depends  on  the  width  of 
its  path,  as  in  the  case  of  a  drunken  man.     If 
its  path  were  one  inch  wide,  we  can  readily  see 
that  it  would  have  to  travel  57,000  (violet)  times 
across,  and  the    same  number  of   times   back, 
every  inch  it  advanced,  which  in  194,000  miles 
advance  would  amount  to  the  sum  of  362,154,- 
246,400,000,000,000,000,000   miles    per  second, 
besides  its  regular  speed  of  194,*000  miles  per 
second. 


85 

239  Now,  the  fact  is,  they  give  it  too  much  to 
do,  unless  they  had  given  it  some   living  sub- 
stance to  force  all  these  vibrations.     The  wave 
theory  would    make    these    vibrations     simply 
echoes,  and  they  would  die  away  in  three  or  four 
vibrations,  if  they   did  not  have  substance  and 
were  being  pushed  out  from  the  sun  by  heat. 

240  The  reason  a  sound  wave  is  longitudinal 
is  because  it  has  no  substance  and  receives  all 
its  force  by  the  vibration  of  a  substance  at  the 
point  where  the  sound  is  created.    It  must  then 
move  the  atmosphere  in  waves  in  every  direction 
from  the  point.     When  the  force  used  in  creat- 
ing the  waves  of  sound  is  expended  in  moving 
the   air,  the    sound    ceases.     Light  being  a  real 
substance   and    forcing   its  way  through  other 
substances,  shows  its  nature  by  vibrating  trans- 
versely.    When  Prof.  Tyndall  discovered,  as  in 
above   quotation,   that    the    particles   of    ether 
showed    mechanical    properties   of  a  solid,  he 
should  have  referred  to  his  own  unusually  clear 
brains    and    reasoning   power,  when    he  would 
easily  have  discovered  that  it  was  the  substance 
of  light,  heat  and  electricity  which  showed  these 
properties,  and  not  particles  of  ether. 

241  Light    does   travel   at  the  rate  of  about 
194,000  miles    per   second,    as    its    speed    was 
measured   at    the  other    end  of  the  line,  from 
Jupiter  coming  this  way;  but  it  does  not  travel 


86 

at  that  rate  through  atmosphere  where  it  must 
vibrate  40,000  times  in  every  inch.  If  there  was 
atmosphere  all  the  way  frhm  the  sun  to  the 
earth,  light  would  arrive  rather  late  in  the 
spring.  All  the  proof  of  reflection  offered  by 
Dr.  Young  are  superfluous,  because  we  know 
that  light  does  vibrate  in  the  air  and  would 
obey  the  same  laws  in  this  respect. 

CHAPTER  XV. 
MATHEMATICAL    PROOF, 

THE    FIGURES    WHICH    PROVE  THE 
PROCESSION  OF  PLANETS 
TO  BE  CORRECT. 

242  There  is  a  strange  sequence  or    ratio    be- 
tween the  speed  with  which  the  planets   travel 
and  their  distance  from  the  Sun.    In  this  ratio 
(n.  90,)  we  have  the  absolute  proof  with  the  fig- 
ures to  show  that  the  planets    are    always   on 
their  way  to  the  Sun    There  can  no    longer  be 
any  doubt  of  a  matter,  or  problem,  if  it  can   be 
reduced  to  figures,  and  the  figures    correspond 
with  the  facts    which   our  brains  permit  \is  to 
understand. 

243  Commencing  at  Mercury    we    approxi- 
mately double  the  distance  to  reach    the    next 
planet   and   so    on  out  to  far  away   Neptune, 
each  one  twice  as  far  away  as  the  last. 

243  Why  should  the  planets  be    arranged  in 


87 

this  perfect  ratio  through  space  if  there  is  not  a 
good  reason  for  it?  Of  course  it  does  not  hap- 
pen by  chance,  because  there  is  no  changing 
mind  to  interfere  with  the  law  of  their  arrang- 
ment. 

244  Commencing  at  Neptupe  and  coming  in 
towards  the  Sun,  we  find  the  same  ratio  in   the 
increase  of  their  speed  along  their   orbits   that 
we  have  in  their  distance  and  little  Murcury  is 
traveling  nearly  ten  times  as  fast  as  slowfobted 
Neptune  while  Neptune  is  almost  ten   times  as 
far  away  as  Mercury.  Let  us  compare  the  speed 
and  distance  of  the  planets,  that.  we.  may  be  pre- 
pared to  make  a  law,  or   rather,  to  understand 
the  simple  law  which  they  have  always  followed 
and  must  follow  forever. 

245  The  following  table  shows  the  distance  of 
each  planet  from  the  Sun  and  its    speed   along 
its  obit. 

Planet  Miles  per  Day  Distance  to  Sun 

Mercury  2,454,500   '•  36,000,000 

Venus  1,860,000  67,000,000 

Earth  1,260,000  93,000,000 

Mars  1,100,000  141,000,000 

Asteroids  811,000  240,000,000 

Jupiter  660,000  483,000,000 

Saturn  490,000  885,000,000 

Uranus  350,000  1,780,000,000 

Neptune  274,000  2,800,000,000 

246  With  the  above  table,  for  a  basis,  does  not 


88 

the  greater  speed  of  the  nearer  planets  to  the 
Sun  prove  that  they  have  been  farther  away 
at  some  time  in  the  past?  Take  Mercury  for  an 
example  which  moves  at  the  rate  of  107,000 
miles  per  hour.  This  must  prove  one  of  two 
things,  either  it  was  not  thrown  out  from  the 
Sun  as  a  mass  by  centrifugal  force,  in  which 
case  it  would  only  move  at  the  rate  of  the  Suns' 
equator,  or  else  it  was  once  much  farther  away 
and  has  gained  its  great  speed  by  nearing  the 
Sun. 

247  At  the  rate  of  speed  with  which  Neptune 
travels,  with  very  little  centrifugal  force  against 
it,  it  drops  toward  xhe  Sun  1,500,000,000   miles 
in  400,000,000  years  while  Mercury,  moving  at 
such  enormous  speed  only  nears   the    Sun  16,- 
000,000  miles  during   the    same    time,   because 
the  checking  power  of  centrifugal    force   is   so 
much  greater.  To  be  sure,  the  force  of  gravity 
is  also  much   greater  at  Mercury  than  at  Nep- 
tune" but  centrifugal  force  is  not   equal    to    the 
force  of  gravity,  as  supposed  by  Newton. 

248  While  Neptune  is  coming  in  towards  the 
Sun  1,500,000,000  miles,  Uranus  only  comes  in 
half  as  far,  but  its  speed  is  doubled  thus  adding 
centrifugal  force  and  checking  its  approach  to 
the  Sun  that  much.  So  we  find  them  shortening 
their  orbits  and  increasing  their  speed    as    they 
aproach   the  Sun. 

249  As  a  planet  moves  around  the  Sun  in  an 


89 

ellipse,  it  travels  faster  when  on  that  part  of  its 
orbit  where  it  is  aproaching  the  Sun  and  more 
slowly  where  receding.  The  same  is  true  in 
the  case  of  our  own  Moon  and  the  explanation 
is  very  simple.  When  nearest  the  Earth  it  has 
been  dropping  towards  the  Earth  in  its  orbit 
and  thus  increased  its  speed. 

250  Cornets  are  an  excellent  example  of  this 
law.    As  they  drop  towards  the  Sun  in  nearer  a 
straight  line  than  any    other   body,    they   gain 
speed  very  rapidly  and    also    lose    their   speed 
very  rapidly  when  thrown    up    again  by   their 
enormous  speed.  A  comet  never  reaches  the  same 
height  from  which   it  started  however,  because 
of  the  immense  attraction  of  the  Sun  which  threw 
it  around  that  body  on  such  a  short  curve. 

251  In  the    case  of  Eckles'  Comet  this  short- 
age of  its  orbit,  measured  in    time,    was   three 
weeks  in  an  orbit  of  three  years. 

252  Comets  are  governed  by  the    same   laws 
as  planets,  but  upon  an  exaggerated  scale,  which 
offe-rs  us  the  opurtunity  to  measure    the    exact 
difference  between  the  force  of  gravity  and  cen- 
trifugal force. 

253  If  a  planet  is  1,000,000   miles  nearer  the 
Sun  than  formerly,  it  has  fallen  that  far   tow- 
ard   the  Sun,  even  though  it  took  ages    of   cir- 
cling in  a  great  decreasing  orbit  and  has  gained 
speed  according  to  the  law  of  falling  bodies,  mi- 
nus the  check  it  received  from  centrifugal  force. 


90 

254  Considerng  all  the  facts  which  we   now 
have  before  us,  we  find  the  law  which   governs 
their  speed  and  distance  from  the  Sun,  is    per- 
fectly plain,  so  plain  that  if  one  is  missing    we 
can  find  its  scattered  remains  with  a  camera. 

255  The  planets    increase  their  speed    along 
their  orbits  in  the  same  inverse  ratio  with  which 
they  decrease  the  diameter  of  their  orbits. 

256  Commencing  at  Mercury  with  our   ratio 
of    distance,   we   could  go  on  doubling  the  dis- 
tance from  the  Sun  twelve  more  times,  out  from 
Neptune  and   yet   be    within    the   glass   globe 
pictured  in  the  first  chapter. 

257  We  know  the  weight    of   both    Neptune 
and  the  Sun,  therefore  the  value  of  the   attrac- 
tion of  gravity  between    them.   By    finding  the 
relative  value   between    centrifugal   force    and 
gravity,  by  the  use  of  Comets,  we  can  soon  be 
able  to  establish    the  age   of  the   planets   and 
satellites. 

258  It  is  no  child's  play  to  unravel  all   this 
tangled    skein    of  circling,   seething,    bursting 
worlds,  with  their  flying  comets,  moons,    rings 
and  things,  and  especialy  when  we  must  find 
out  forces,  laws  and  facts  never  before  known 
to  exist,  therefore  we  will  not  enter  the   sub- 
ject further  at  this  time. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

IN      CONCLUSION. 

259  In  speaking  to  a  kind  friend  a  short  time 
ago,  I  mentioned  the    fact  that  I  would  com- 
plete my  "Processin  of  Planets"  the  next  day, 
when  he  asked  suavely,  'how  I  knew  when  to 
quit'.  His  question  was  very  rellavent  however, 
and  I  have  not  quit  because  there   is  nothing 
more  to  say. 

260  What  has  been  said    is  only  a  pointing 
out  of  how  to    explain    the  mysteries  of    the 
universe.   Where  will  be  the    end  of  the    mys- 
tery it  will  sweep  away    and  the  knotty    prob- 
lems it  will  make  plain,  when  men  of  brains 
recover  from  the  first  shock  of  the  realization 
of  the  importance  of  these  new  discoveries. 

261  When    a  ray  of  light  is  divided  by  the 
spectrum  into  its  different  colors,  it  is  simply 
separated  into  some  of  its  elements.  These  col- 
ored rays  vibrate  at  different  rates  of  speed  ac- 
according  to  the  solidity  of  the  metal  forming 
those  particular  rays.    The  only   reason  to  be 
found  to  account  for  the  difference  of  vibration 
in  the  separated  portions  of  a  ray   of    light   is 
that  being  forced  through  the  atmosphere  at  so 
great  a    speed,  the    more  solid   portions  meet 
with  more  resistance  than  those   less   solid    or 
more  elastic. 

262  Different  colors  can    be   made   only   by 
using  different  minerals  and  it  must  be  irapos- 


92 

sible  to  color  the  ray  of  light  in  any  other  way. 
The  fact  that  a  ray  of  light  can  be  separated 
into  colors  is  proof  that  it  is  composed  of  dis- 
integrated substance. 

263  If  light  was  only  a  motion    commencing 
at  the  sun,  it  certainly  could  not  be  divided  into 
colors,  which  require  mineral  for  a  foundation. 

264  Prof.  Tyndall  proved  that  the  rays    from 
the  Sun,  a  coal  fire,  a  candle  and  electric    rays, 
obey  the  same  laws  ("Heat  as  a   mode  of  mo- 
tion, pp.  280).     We  know  that  when  100  Ibs.  of 
coal  are  burned  in   a    stove,  leaving    10  Ibs.  of 
ash,  that  90  Ibs.  are  to  be  accounted  for.   As  we 
know  there  can  be  no  loss  of  material  in  nature 
and  that  coal  is  material,  therefore  it  is  plain  to 
our  brains  that  the  coal  has  been  dissolved  by 
heat  and  pushed  away    from    the   heat   center 
which  its  disintegration  created. 

265  When  a  solid  body  is  dissolved  into  this 
heat  vapor  the  difference  in  volume  of  the  new 
form  it  has  now  taken,  is  enormous.  From    the 
Sun    this     is  so  greatt  hat  it  fills  the    whole 
solar  system  like  an  atmosphere    and  no  doubt 
more  dense  nearest  the  Sun,  getting  more   rare 
as    we   go    out  into  space,  the  same  as  the    air 
around  the  Earth. 

266  Gravity  therefore,  is  nothing  more  mys- 
terious than  the  contracting  of  this  heat    fluid, 
or   electricity.  So  we  can  go  on  explaining  the 
working  of  nature  according  to  the  simplicity  of 


93 

the  procession  of  planets,  but  first  let  us  see 
what  objection  Scientists  and  Physicists  see  fit 
to  make  to  what  has  been  said  in  the  forgoing 
pages. 

267  I  have  made  a  number  of  discoveries  by 
following  these  new  ideas  which  I  do  not   wish 
to  explain  but  simply  to  mention. 

268  The  human  body  can   be   renewed  and 
life  continued. 

269  We  can  see,  through  electricity,  without 
regard  to  distance  or  the  use  of  wires. 

270  Motion  can  be  taken  direct  from  nature. 

271  The  formation  of  gold  nuggets  and  their 
places  of  deposit,  is  a  simple  law  of  this  proces- 
sion. 

272  Thought  is  electric  fluid    which    can    be 
transmitted  from  one  brain  to  another  without 
regard  to  sight,  sound,  distance  or  wires. 


ANNOUNCEMENT. 

An  Edition  of  the  Procession  of  Planets  will 
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It  will  also  be  profusely  illustrated  with  the 
best  photgraphs  of  the  heavenly  bodies  which 
science  can  produce  and  with  figures,  cuts  and 
diagrams,  to  illustrate  the  arguments  made.  The 
new  volume  will  contain  a  large  amount  of  new 
matter  of  great  value  and  be  much  better  ar- 
ranged for  refference.  The  price  will  be  $2.50. 
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A  special  edition  of  500  copies  will  be  issued 
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Each  book  will  be  numbered  according  to  the 
>rder  in  which  the  subscriptions  are  received, 

FKANKLIN  H.  HEALD, 
No.  331,  W.  4th  St.,  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 


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